I am doing a school project on Mt. Etna. Has it ever erupted with great loss of life? If so, can you tell me something about this please or tell me where I can find out, eg exactly what happened and how many people were killed? Mt Etna was not listed on your "great volcanic eruptions" page but I thought that there had been a devastating eruption once. Thank you very much for your help.

rocky Sarah Doherty

Dear Sarah,

Etna (location: 37.7N, 15.0E) is a 10,791 foot (3,290 m) tall stratovolcano on the northeastern edge of Sicily. It certainly deserves to be on a list of famous volcanoes because it has the longest documented record of volcanism in the world, erupts frequently, and is the largest volcano in Europe. Etna probably does not belong on a list of great (individual) volcanic eruptions. In mythology, Etna was identified as the location of the forge of Volcan, home of the Cyclopses, and where the giant Enceladus laid (eruptions being his breath and earthquakes his motion). Etna has erupted nearly 160 times since the first recorded eruption in 1500 B.C. Most eruptions consist of lava flows. Small to moderate explosive eruptions occur near the summit less often. Etna is not known for any eruptions that caused great loss of life. Known violent eruptions occurred in 1169, 1669, 1752-1754, 1893-1899, 1917, 1940, and 1945. Known fatal eruptions occurred in 141 B.C., 1329 A.D., 1536 A.D., 1832 A.D., 1843 A.D., 1928 A.D., 1979 A.D., and 1987 A.D. I could not find information on the number and cause of fatalities during most of these eruptions. Nine people were killed and 23 were injured (150 tourist were in the area) on September 12, 1979, by a 30-second explosion that threw large blocks near the crater rim. Blocks 10 inches (25 cm) in diameter fell 1,300 feet (400 m) away. Two people were killed and 7 others injured by falling volcanic material 1,600 feet (500 m) from the crater in the 1987 phreatic eruption.

Steve Mattox, University of North Dakota

Sources of information:

Imbo, G., 1965, Catalogue of the active volcanoes of the world including solfatara fields, Part XVIII Italy: International Association of Volcanology, Rome, Italy, 72 p.

McClelland, L., Simkin, T., Summers, M., Nielson, E., Stein, T.C., 1989, Global volcanism 1975-1985: Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, and American Geophysical Union, Washington DC, 655 p.

SEAN Bulletin, 1987, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., v. 12, no. 4, p. 2-3.

Simkin, T., and Siebert, L., 1994, Volcanoes of the world: Geoscience Press, Tucson, Arizona, 349 p. 

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