Etna volcano update: Earthquakes rattle volcano's southern flank
Sat, 2 Jan 2021, 15:25
15:25 PM | BY: T
Earthquakes under Etna volcano during 31 Dec 2020-2Jan 2021
Steaming from the New SE crater (image: LAVE webcam)
A total of almost 40 quakes of magnitudes of up to 3.8 have been recorded, most of them on 31 Dec and early 1 Jan. The strongest quakes were widely felt by people living on the southern slopes of Etna.
There are no signs that that these quakes have affected the activity at the summit craters, which has been calming down gradually, and seems to consist only of sporadic (if any) weak strombolian activity and some ash emissions from the New SE crater and, to lesser extent, the Voragine central crater.
It is unclear whether the earthquakes were volcanic in origin, but they might well be so, possibly caused by deep magmatic intrusions that pressurize deep reservoirs and break up rocks in the mantle to create space, resulting in small earthquakes. Ultimately, they might but not necessarily need to be precursors of a new phase of activity, something that only Etna knows at the present.
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Previous news
Mon, 28 Dec 2020, 20:40
Although no paroxysm has occurred since the last one almost a week ago (on 22 Dec), Etna continues to erupt, mainly from the eastern summit vent of the New SE crater. Read all
Wed, 23 Dec 2020, 16:45
After the latest paroxysm from the New SE crater early yesterday morning, the volcano has continued to produce mild strombolian activity, mainly from the eastern summit vent of the SE crater complex. ... Read all
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