Located on the east coast of Sicily, Mount Etna is one of the world’s most active volcanoes.
Its eruptions occur at the summit, where there are four craters: the Voragine and the Bocca Nuova, formed in 1945 and 1928 respectively, the Northeast Crater and the Southeast Crater.
“Thanks to the analysis and processing of satellite images, the Southeast Crater is now much higher than its ‘older brother’, the Northeast Crater, for 40 years the undisputed peak of Etna,” the National Institute for Geophysics and Vulcanology (INGV) said in a press release.
According to the agency, the volcano’s youngest and most active crater has risen to a new record of 3357 metres above sea level, surpassing the former summit crater by 30 metres.
Etna reached a record height of 3350 meters in 1981, but a partial collapse of the crater rim reduced that to 3326 meters in the summer of 2018.
Some 50 episodes of ash eruptions and lava fountains from the southeastern crater since mid-February have led to a “conspicuous transformation of the volcano’s outline”, with its actual dimensions calculated through satellite images taken in July 2021.
Material and layers of spewing and cooling lava have accumulated, increasing the overall height of the volcano.
While past eruptions seen lava reach towns on the volcano’s slopes, the recent activity is limited to the summit.
But high levels of ashfall have been problematic in recent months.
Ash plumes have led to the sporadic closure of Catania’s airport, while Sicily’s government estimated that 300,000 tonnes of ash had been cleaned up so far from the surrounding streets.
