Etna volcano eruptions: paroxysms from the New SE crater in 2011-12
Lava fountains during the New SE crater paroxysm on 19 July 2011
In early January 2011, Etna started a series of spectacular eruptions from the pit crater at the eastern foot of the SE crater with eruptions every 5-about 50 days. Each of these so-called paroxysms consisted of increasing strombolian explosions culminating in a brief phase of tall lava fountains lasting between 30 minutes and a few hours, generating tall ash plumes and producing lava flows into the Valle del Bove. As of early 2012, the series is still continuing and there have been a total of 19 paroxysms until now (2 Feb). As a result of the eruptions, the former pit crater has dramatically increased insize and become a new member of the summit craters. It is now only little lower than the SE crater itself, and commonly called the
New SE crater.
List of New SE crater Paroxysms in 2011/12
| Paroxysm Nr | Date | Interval in days after previous one |
| #01 | 12 Jan 2011 | |
| #02 | 18 Feb | 37 |
| #03 | 10 Apr | 53 |
| #04 | 12 May | 32 |
| #05 | 09 Jul | 58 [photos] |
| #06 | 19 Jul | 10 [photos] |
| #07 | 25 Jul | 6 |
| #08 | 30 Jul | 5 |
| #09 | 05 Aug | 6 |
| #10 | 12 Aug | 7 |
| #11 | 20 Aug | 8 |
| #12 | 29 Aug | 9 |
| #13 | 08 Sep | 10 |
| #14 | 19 Sep | 11 |
| #15 | 28 Sep | 9 |
| #16 | 08 Oct | 10 [photos] |
| #17 | 23 Oct | 15 |
| #18 | 15 Nov | 23 |
| #19 | 05 Jan 2012 | 51 |
| #20 | 08 Feb 2012 | 34 [info] |
| #21 | 04 Mar 2012 | 25 [info] |
| #22 | 18 Mar 2012 | 14 [info] |
| #23 | 01 Apr 2012 | 14 [info] |
| #24 | 12 Apr 2012 | 11.5 [info] |
| #25 | 24 Apr 2012 | 11.5 [info & video] |
