Mount Etna back to activity on the night between February 8th and 9th. Not really a surprise, this time, given that in recent days the volcano had made itself felt with several seismic shocks located, mostly, on the south-western flank. However, there had been no major signals at the summit level, as had instead occurred in the past. In the silence of the evening, behind a blanket of clouds, Etna started the first show of the year 2025. And this time the “lucky ones” to enjoy the event will be the inhabitants of the western slope.

A subterminal eruption between South East and Bocca Nuova

We contacted the INGV (Institute of Geology and Volcanology) which provided us with detailed information on the ongoing event. “There is a small lava flow coming out of the southern base of the Bocca Nuova crater,” writes Dr. Boris Behncke, from Biancavilla “this is a type of activity that we call subterminal, that is, at the foot of the summit craters.” In fact, the eruption is involving two of the largest craters on our volcano, the South East and the Bocca Nuova. To be precise, a fracture has opened up right between these two vents, causing a lava flow to come out starting at 3,000 meters above sea level. Given the position and the presence of the two craters on both sides, the only possible view of the eruption at the moment is from the south-west side, therefore from the towns of Biancavilla, Adrano, Paternò and Belpasso.

The INGV Press Release

The National Institute of Volcanology immediately issued a press release informing of the technical details of the new eruption. Dr. Marco Neri shared the information that reads as follows:

The National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, Etnean Observatory, communicates from the analysis of images from surveillance cameras and observations of INGV personnel in the field, starting from about 17:35 (UTC) the emission of a lava flow at an estimated altitude of ~3000 meters above sea level between the base of the Bocca Nuova crater and that of the South-East crater. The lava flow expands in the direction of Monte Frumento Supino. This activity was preceded on February 6 by a modest and episodic explosive activity from the South-East Crater.

From a seismic point of view, the average amplitude of the volcanic tremor remains with modest oscillations within the range of average values. The locations of the centroid of the tremor sources are located in correspondence with the South-East Crater at an elevation between 2800 and 3000 m above sea level. Infrasonic activity at present appears to be almost completely absent, while for the days prior to today a modest infrasonic activity produced by the South-East Crater has been reported.

As regards the monitoring of deformations, the GNSS network does not record significant variations, while in the last hours the clinometric network records a very modest variation (tenths of a microradian) only at the summit station of Cratere del Piano (ECP).

Evolving event

We will follow the eruptive event in the coming days to understand if -and to what extent- it will evolve into a paroxysm or if we are in the presence of a new effusive eruption, and towards which territories of the volcano the lava flow will be directed. (PHOTO BY G. MUSUMECI AND D.GENTILE)