Mount Etna, Europe's Most Active Volcano

Alan Taylor
March 15, 2017
26 Photos
In Focus

Mount Etna, on the Italian island of Sicily, is not only the highest active volcano in Europe at 10,810 feet (3,295 meters), but is one of the most active in the world. Historical observations of Etna’s eruptions go back as far as 3,500 years, with geological observations reaching back hundreds of thousands of years. While recent eruptions have rarely caused serious damage to the farms or villages in the shadow of the volcano, locals remain alert to any activity.

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In this photo taken on November 16, 2013, Mt. Etna spews lava during an eruption as seen from Acireale, near the Sicilian town of Catania, Italy. #

Carmelo Imbesi / AP

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A group of men sit casually in a field, while in the background, smoke rises from the erupting Mount Etna. Sicily, Italy, between 1880 and 1890. #

Michael Maslan / Corbis / VCG via Getty

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Italian Sentry Watching Lava Stream near Mascali, Italy. #

Hulton-Deutsch Collection / Corbis via Getty

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Villagers and tourists look at fiery lava coming down the slopes of Mt. Etna in 1971. Thousands flocked to the foothills and slopes of the 10,902-foot-high volcano to see the most spectacular eruptions since 1928. #

Bettmann / Getty

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Tourists watch Mount Etna spew lava on the southern Italian island of Sicily, in the early hours of July 21, 2006. #

Antonio Parrinello / Reuters

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Mount Etna spews out fresh lava on July 26, 2001 in the latest and most spectacular phase of an eruption, leading the government to declare a state of emergency in the area. The lava flow reached a car park 10 meters away from the Sapienza refuge, a popular tourist spot offering shelter from bad weather, after bulldozers piled up earth and hardened lava from earlier eruptions into barricades. #

Mario Laporta / Reuters

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A firefighter sprays water over a lava stream advancing on the Rifugio Sapienza tourist station on the slopes of Mt. Etna, on July 31, 2001. #

Fabrizio Villa / AP

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An excavator is used to attempt to divert a stream of lava erupting from Mount Etna after it reached a parking lot near the Sapienza Rifugio, at Nicolosi, Sicily, on July 26, 2001. #

Pier Paolo Cito / AP

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A cable car ticket office is slowly destroyed by lava from Mount Etna on July 26, 2001. #

Mario Laporta / Reuters

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A building, destroyed and partially covered by lava, now solidified, below Mount Etna. #

Vittoriano Rastelli / Corbis via Getty

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A building sits, destroyed and partially covered by a lava flow from Mount Etna. #

Vittoriano Rastelli / Corbis via Getty

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People take pictures of the smoke rising over the city of Taormina during an eruption of the Mount Etna on December 4, 2015. #

Giovanni Isolino / AFP / Getty

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Charles Riviere catches a piece of lava, on the slope of Mount Etna, on July 25, 2001. #

Gabriel Bouys / AFP / Getty

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Mt. Etna spews lava as smoke billows during an eruption as seen from Acireale, near the Sicilian town of Catania, Italy, on November 16, 2013. #

Carmelo Imbesi / AP

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A villager watches a lava flow from Mount Etna as it moves gradually through a settlement in the Sicily countryside. #

Vittoriano Rastelli / Corbis via Getty

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Fireman monitor lava as Mount Etna spews out fresh lava on October 27, 2002. Rivers of boiling lava poured down Mount Etna, engulfing small buildings and threatening a mountain lodge after a series of earthquakes awakened the volcano. #

Tony Gentile / Reuters

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An eruption of Mount Etna photographed on July 30, 2011. #

Flickr user gnuckx

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A view of Etna erupting, seen from orbit, aboard the International Space Station on October 30, 2002. #

NASA

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A wider view of Etna erupting, seen from orbit, aboard the International Space Station on October 30, 2002. #

NASA

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An eruption of Etna on January 13, 2011. #

CC BY-SA Wikipedia user Cirimbillo

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Lava spews from a crater of Mount Etna on the southern Italian island of Sicily on January 6, 2012. #

Marcello Paternostro / AFP / Getty

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The snowcapped Mount Etna erupts not far from Zafferana Etnea village, in Italy, on April 12, 2012. The south-eastern crater, “born” in 1971, has been the most active in the last few years. #

Salvatore Allegra / AP

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In this photo taken on February 28, 2017 Mount Etna spews lava during an eruption, near the Sicilian town of Catania. #

Salvatore Allegra / AP

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A tourist stands in front of Italy's Mount Etna as it spews lava during an eruption on February 28, 2017. #

Antonio Parrinello / Reuters

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A cloud of ash and steam rises above Mount Etna during its second eruption in a week, near Catania, Italy, on December 4, 2015. #

Salvatore Allegra / AP

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Lava spews from a crater of the Etna on July 30, 2011 in Catania. The lava flowed into a valley overnight and did not present a danger to inhabited areas. #

Marcello Paternostro / AFP / Getty

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