Etna activity February - March 2013: 8 paroxysms from New SE crater
Etna calm, two recent small earthquake swarms
Update Sun 31 Mar 13:28
Current view of Etna (INGV webcam)
Depth vs time of recent earthquakes under Etna
Location of recent earthquakes under Etna
At the surface, Etna remains calm. The current seismic signal and tremor values at the moment don't suggest a new paroxysm from the New SE crater is be expected very soon (although some paroxysms have shown build-up phases of less than a few hours only).
Interestingly, two weak earthquake swarms have occurred two days ago under the flanks of the volcano at opposite sides of the mountain: the first, weaker one, was at depths around 25 km under Monte Spagnolo on the NW flank, the second occurred shortly after at depths around 15 km under the area of Milo on the SE flank. The largest quake was a magnitude 2 event.
(We don't think these small swarms mean much, however.)
Update Sat 30 Mar 10:20
Etna today (the dark patch above the New SE crater is a camera artifact, probably a dirty spot on the lens).
A visit to the summit area and current tremor levels showed the volcano is currently calm. No explosive activity was heard or seen from any of the summit craters.
The area of bomb impacts from the last New SE crater paroxysm on 16 March was impressive - the whole area between Torre del Filosofo, the 2002-03 craters and the area of Cisternazza NE of the Cono del Lago was littered with bombs of various sizes (20-50 cm mostly). The Belvedere was found totally covered with scoria and bombs.
Update Wed 27 Mar 12:29
10 days since the last paroxysm, tremor is still low and doesn't suggest a new eruption is imminent. Bad weather mostly prevented observations during the past days. No glow could be seen last night from any of the summit craters.
Update Tue 19 Mar 09:48
Etna with the fresh black lava flows below the New SE crater this morning seen from Valle del Bove
Tremor signal (ETFI station, INGV)
Beautiful snow-clad Etna remains restless. While the wait is on for a new SE crater paroxysm (which is likely to occur anywhere between days or few weeks from now), a few pronounced tremor spikes show up on the tremor graph. These probably correspond to strombolian activity from one of the summit craters, likely the Voragine.
Update Sun 17 Mar 10:33
Thermal webcam image at 04:51 showing an ash plume from Etna's Voragine
Image in next sequency with some hot material visible above Voragine
The tremor spike this morning is NOT a second paroxysm...
A pronounced tremor spike showed up this morning, leading perhaps to the suspicion of a follow-up paroxysm (as Etna has sometimes done in the past). However, looking at webcam images from that time, it seems that an explosion and/or a collapse event (more likely) occurred from Voragine crater and produced a marked tremor spike. An ash plume and minor amounts of hot material can be seen rising a few 100 meters at around 04:51 local time.
Update Sat 16 Mar 19:23
Typical for Etna's paroxysms, activity has ended quickly after reaching an impressive climax with lava fountains around and perhaps even above 1 km in height.
Update Sat 16 Mar 19:08
Lava fountain seen on the Montagnola webcam
Corresponding thermal image
The eruption still increases, the wind has turned to the north and the webcams on Montagnola are now getting into the ash plume.
Update Sat 16 Mar 19:02
Tall lava fountain from Etna's New SE crater
Two fountains from the saddle and summit vent
Tremor has reached about 75 times normal level
Tremor and the intensity of fountains are still increasing. Their height seems to be even more than 1 km at times.
Lava fountains of 1 km height!
Update Sat 16 Mar 18:53
Lava fountains reaching about 1 km height
Lava fountains reaching about 1 km height
The intensity of the lava fountains is increasing still. Similar to the paroxysm #5 on 23 Feb , most energy seems to go into the fountains this time, which are reaching (if not surpassing) 1 km in height.
8th New SE crater paroxysm
Update Sat 16 Mar 18:39
Lava fountains from Etna's New SE crater
Tremor signal (ETFI station, INGV)
The 8th paroxysm from the New SE crater is now in full swing. Lava fountains several 100 m in height are rising from the summit and saddle vents of the New SE crater. A tall ash column has started to rise and drifts eastwards.
Update Sat 16 Mar 18:07
Beginning lava fountains at Etna's New SE crater
Tremor signal from Etna (INGV)
The activity during this 8th paroxysm of the New SE crater still continues to increase, and strombolian bursts are now starting to merge into lava fountains.
Update Sat 16 Mar 16:01
Thermal image of the crater area, showing a strombolian burst at the New SE crater
Tremor signal (ETFI station, INGV)
The intensity of the (probably starting 8th paroxysmal) eruption is increasing relatively slowly, but steadily. At the moment, strong strombolian activity can be seen from the New SE crater. The volcanic tremor continues to rise exponentially (note the now logarithmic scale of INGV's tremor graphs).
Update Sat 16 Mar 08:16
Current tremor signal from Etna (ETFI station, INGV Catania)
It seems that a new paroxysm is in the making. The tremor signal is showing a pronounced rise, typical for the beginning of the New SE crater paroxysms. Unfortunately, weather conditions don't currently allow visual verification.
Update Thu 14 Mar 16:10
Current seismic signal from Etna (ESVO station, INGV)
Weather has remained mostly bad for direct visual observations, but some strombolian activity has been occurring, at least intermittently, from one of the summit craters, likely Voragine.
The latest seismic signal seems more agitated than normal, probably corresponding to another such phase (if not a precursor to a paroxysm).
Waiting for the next paroxysm, new live data
Update Tue 12 Mar 14:15
Etna's summit area in clouds (Radiostudio7 webcam)
Current tremor signal (EBCN station, INGV Catania)
Views of the summit area have been limited due to mostly poor weather, but except for occasional weak glow from the New SE crater and Voragine, probably weak strombolian activity, there has not been any new major activity. Looking at the intervals of the past 7 paroxysms, it would be not surprising if an 8th one was to occur these days...
Something else interesting: INGV Catania has recently re-structured again
their website and added new seismic data plots.
We have also updated our live webcam viewer with new / updated webcam and online data, in particular for Etna:
webcams.volcanodiscovery.com/Etna.
Update Fri 08 Mar 19:17
Ash emissions were observed from the central crater (Voragine) and weak strombolian activity took place from the New SE crat3er over night.
7th New SE crater paroxysm
Update Wed 06 Mar 06:59
Lava fountains during lst night's paroxysm
Increasing strombolian activity at the beginning of the eruption
Another paroxysm occurred from the New SE crater during the night. Following a period of increasing strombolian activity, large lava fountains were rising from vent in the saddle between the old and new SE crater as well its summit vent.
Update Tue 05 Mar 19:05
Strombolian activity in Etna's Voragine crater
Activity at the Voragine crater continues with an impressive glow at night.
Update Tue 05 Mar 09:49
Strombolian activity in Etna's Voragine this night
Strombolian activity in Etna's Voragine this night
Ash emission from the New SE crater this morning
With the seismic stations and some of the webcams (in particular, the ones at Belvedere) being unavailable for the time being (they were overrun by lava flows from Friday's paroxysm), it is getting more difficult to have live data from Etna.
However, the Bocca Nuova and several other webcams are still functional and observers on GeoForum collected some image that show that strombolian activity from Voragine continued this night, and also ash eruptions from the New SE crater were seen this morning. This could be a precursor of a new paroxysm.
Update Sun 03 Mar 09:45
Strombolian activity from Etna's Voragine last night
Strombolian activity at the Voragine continued during the night and seems quite intense. You can check the current activity on our
Webcam Tool.
Continuing strombolian activity from Voragine
Update Fri 01 Mar 19:12
Webcam image of Etna with glow from Voragine crater
As night falls, glow and some ejections from ongoing strombolian activity inside Voragine crater become visible.
Update Fri 01 Mar 17:48
Etna Belvedere webcam, just a few meters from the now looling lava front from yesterday's eruption
Seismic and eruptive activity have gradually declined, after the lava flows from yesterday's paroxysm continued to advance for a while and strombolian activity took place from Voragine during the night.
The Radiostudio 7 Belvedere Webcam has barely escaped destruction from the flows, but unless moved, it is probably only a matter of time until it suffers the same fate as the INGV seismic station.
6th paroxysm from New SE crater
Update Thu 28 Feb 18:49
Etna's 6th paroxysm of the New SE crater in 2013
The 6th paroxysm from the New SE crater occurred this morning. It was characterized by very strong explosions and tall lava fountains 3-600m tall from vents on the fissure cutting through the New SE crater. Lava flows from the eruption traveled south and SE from the cone onto Belvedere, where they destroyed the seismic station and telecamera, and into Valle del Bove.
Photos can be found here.
Eruptive episode from Voragine crater
Update Wed 27 Feb 18:57
Etna's New SE crater this evening
Today, we observed an eruptive episode characterized by strombolian explosions and ash emissions took place from a new "player", the Voragine summit crater (NOT Bocca Nuova).
The New SE crater has stayed calm, but now at night, an incandescent fumarole and some glow from its crater are visible (although the latter could still be from the Voragine).
Update Tue 26 Feb 18:13
For now, Etna has stayed quiet. It seems that - if the series continues - the intervals between paroxysms are getting again longer.
Update Sat 23 Feb 19:47
The 5th paroxysm of the New SE crater is occurring. Tall lava fountains are erupting from the fissure vent of the New SE crater. This time, the eruption is much bigger than the previous ones. Judging from webcam images, lava fountains might be reaching one km in height.
Tall lava fountains are visible from the webcam images:
New SE crater paroxysm #5
Update Sat 23 Feb 19:43
Lava fountains from Etna's New SE crater
Update Sat 23 Feb 18:20
View towards the New SE crater from Belvedere
Tremor signal from Etna
Another paroxysm is probably in the making. A lava flow is active from a fissure SE of the New SE crater's base, and the tremor signal has begun to rise.
Update Sat 23 Feb 16:14
It seems that tremor has just started to rise again, but it is difficult to verify any activity due to cluod cover at the moment.
Update Sat 23 Feb 10:50
So far, the volcano has been quiet, but for how will this last?
Current view of Etna from Linguaglossa (Etna Trekking webcam)
Update Fri 22 Feb 07:39
Glow from what is probably a small effusive fissure SE of the base of the cone (right in the picture)
It seems that a small effusive fissure vent has been active a few 100 m SE of the base of the New SE crater. No further paroxysm has (yet) occurred.
Update Thu 21 Feb 07:04
The characteristic tall tremor peak of Etna's tremor signal
A 4th paroxysm from the New SE crater just ended. It followed the previous one with only about 18 hours interval. It will be interesting to see how long Etna will keep up this busy pace.
Update Wed 20 Feb 14:23
Lava fountains and flow from the lower fissure of Etna's New SE crater
Beginning tall fountains from the main vent
You can follow the eruption on webcams live at
webcams.volcanodiscovery.com:
3rd paroxysm from New SE crater
Update Wed 20 Feb 13:53
The typical peaks of the tremor signal of Etna indicating the paroxysms (INGV)
Etna's New SE crater
Incredible: Etna is having a 3rd paroxysm in a short succession.
Second paroxysm shortly after previous one
Update Wed 20 Feb 08:16
The typical peaks of the tremor signal of Etna indicating the paroxysms of past and the previous nights (INGV)
The scoria-covered area and still hot lava flows south of SE crater from the past paroxysm
A second paroxysm from the New SE crater followed shortly after midnight, less than 24 hours after the one during the previous night.
New paroxysm from New SE crater
Update Tue 19 Feb 08:47
Paroxysm of Etna on the webcam
The characteristic tall tremor peak
What started last night in fact became in a true paroxysm this time, with tall lava fountains and lava flows from the New SE crater.
The strombolian activity progressively increased and merged into lava fountains at around 04h40 local time. A lava flow descended into Valle del Bove and reached about 2600 m elevation on the slope north of Sierra Giannicola Picola. The eruption ended rapidly by about 06h30.
This marks the first "true" paroxysm this year, very similar to the spectacular ones during 2011-12, but comparably weaker than these.
Update Mon 18 Feb 22:33
Tremor signal from Etna (INGV)
Tremor is rising and probably, this means that some strombolian activity is present in either New SE crater or Bocca Nuova, but visibility is poor due to bad weather.
Eruptive episode #11 from New SE crater
Update Sun 17 Feb 15:40
Tremor signal from Etna (INGV)
A strong phase of strombolian activity took place over night at the New SE crater, marked by a peak in tremor. No activity has been observed from Bocca Nuova.
Update Thu 14 Feb 12:10
Weak strombolian activity has been taking place from the New SE crater since last night. At the moment, the tremor signal is still low. It will be interesting to see whether (and when) this activity will increase in the near future.
New eruptive episode from Bocca Nuova 8-9 Feb
Update Sat 09 Feb 12:10
Another short eruptive episode with intense strombolian activity occurred from Bocca Nuova last night.
Tremor signal from Etna (INGV)
New eruptive episode
Update Wed 06 Feb 14:40
Tremor signal from Etna (INGV)
Another eruption has just occurred from Etna, indicated by the typical steep spike in the tremor signal. However, bad visibility due to clouds has not allowed visual observations.
Update Tue 05 Feb 11:41
Etna this morning.
Tremor signal from Etna (INGV)
The New SE crater has been producing occasional ash emissions and weak explosions over the past 24 hours, but so far, the volcano seems not to be in the mood of making another mini-paroxysm eruption. The tremor signal is at low levels, but unstable.
Update Sun 03 Feb 14:50
Snow-white Etna this Sunday
Current tremor signal; each spike represents one of the recent eruptive episodes
Etna has stayed quiet, but for how long? If the rhythm of the recent eruptions remains, we could expect another one to be very soon. By coincidence, they all happened at night. So, if you're into watching volcanoes live, be sure to tune into webcams.volcanodiscovery.com/Etna (or go to Sicily, much better!)
New eruptive episode from both SE crater and Bocca Nuova
Update Sat 02 Feb 07:13
After a day with ash emissions from New SE crater and occasionally from Bocca Nuova, another eruptive episode with strong strombolian activity occurred over night from both the New SE crater and Bocca Nuova.
The start of strombolian activity was at 02h59 local time when weak incandescence visible at the New SE crater quickly increased to strombolian explosions. While this activity slowly increased, the eastern vent of Bocca Nuova also became active and joined in with strombolian explosions at around 04:30.
Shortly after the onset of activity from Bocca Nuova, the one from the New SE crater decreased and finished shortly after 05:30. Bocca Nuova remained active until the dawn and then progressively waned.
This is then the 8th event this year so far.
Tremor signal from Etna (INGV)
Update Fri 01 Feb 08:25
Etna this morning.
Etna is calm this morning, but some weak ash emissions are occurring from the New SE crater.
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