Mount Etna is one of the world’s most active volcanoes and is on the east coast of Sicily, Italy in the City of Catania, which lies between the cities of Messina and Catania and is almost in a constant state of activity. Italy’s volcano monitoring agency on August 11, 2021, said that the different incidents and activities for six months in Mount Etna’s southeastern crater increased its height. For now, Mount Etna is the tallest active volcano in Europe.
The National Institute for Geophysics (INGV) and Volcanology specifically based in the Sicilian city of Catania says that this huge volcano’s youngest and most active crater reached a new record of 3,357 meters which is 11,000 in feet and that’s also above sea level.
INGV in their press release says, “Thanks to the analysis and processing of satellite images, the southeast crater is now much taller than its ‘older brother’, the northeast crater, for 40 years the undisputed peak of Mount Etna.”
As reported by ScienceAlert, they also pointed out that approximately 50 events of ash and lava discharging from the upper part of the crater of Mount Etna since February have resulted in a “conspicuous transformation of the volcano’s outline” and its measurements were also made through satellite images.
Around 1981 northeastern crater of Mount Etna extended to a record height of 3,350 meters. But because of damage in its edges and their collapse reduced the height to 3,326 as per measurements taken in 2018.
Crater since February removed the smoke and ash from it which also created a little danger to the villages near it. Also, in July, Sicily’s government predicted that around 300,000 metric tons of ash had been removed and cleaned so far. The ash has been disturbing surrounding areas as it makes the streets dirtier, slowing the traffic and most importantly damaging the crops.
People in Catania who face the volcano happenings told that Mount Etna’s ash, which sometimes falls like rain, makes it both beautiful and annoying. Ashes make streets and balconies black. The boom in the volcano sometimes reached Catania due to winds and shook the windows.
But it also becomes fascinating when you are observing a moving red plume.