Italy's Volcanoes: The Cradle of Volcanology

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SE Crater paroxysm, 26 September 1989
It takes a bit of luck to see a volcano erupting that spectacularly when you visit it for the first time! This is the view out of a window of the Hotel Gemmellaro at Nicolosi on the morning of 26 September 1989 towards an impressive eruption column that rose from the Southeast Crater during one of its most powerful eruptive episodes in September 1989. The column of ash and vapor rose about 6 km into the sky, and loud roaring was heard at Nicolosi and surrounding villages. At the end of the fountaining, the roaring became still louder, making windows vibrate and doors rattle. Photo was taken by Karin Eusterhues who was on the same Italian volcano tour with me

Etna photo gallery: 1989
My first visit, and a spectacular eruption


I first visited the volcanoes of Italy in September 1989, and Etna was the last volcano of the tour. Just at the time it had begun an impressive eruption at its Southeast Crater, with violent eruptive episodes that occurred once or twice a day. These were characterized by spectacular lava fountains, tephra columns, and outflow of lava not only from the crater but also from fissures on its southern and northern sides (much like the paroxysms of the year 2000). Following a series of about 15 eruptive episodes, a new eruptive fissure opened on 27 September in the Valle del Leone, on the upper ENE flank of the volcano, emitting a lava flow, and lava fountaining at the Southeast Crater changed to continuous ash emission with some Strombolian activity. The eruption ended on 9 October, but my visit lasted only until 29 September, and I did not get to see much of the flank eruption. At that time I had few contacts and did not know the mountain well. I was lucky to see some of the paroxysms from Nicolosi, at a distance of about 15 km, and these were quite impressive. The photos below (as well as the one at the top of the page) talk for themselves.

First clear view of Etna, 24 September 1989

24 September 1989
This is the view of Etna from Nicolosi early on the morning of 24 September 1989. A dense gas plume is fed from the summit craters, which on that morning were not showing any significant eruptive activity (a powerful eruptive episode at the Southeast Crater occurred a few hours later, but by that time the volcano was shrouded in dense weather clouds)

The next morning: eruptive episode, 25 September 1989

25 September 1989

First look towards Etna (from the Hotel Gemmellaro, Nicolosi) on the early morning of 25 September 1989, and it's erupting! Actually this is an eruptive episode at the Southeast Crater, and it continues as day breaks, creating marvellous color effects

25 September 1989
25 September 1989

The eruptive episode continues as the sun begins to rise, and at the same time white plumes are generated by lava flows issuing from the Southeast Crater and two fissures on its southern and northern sides

25 September 1989

Another eruptive episode in the evening, 25 September 1989

25 September 1989, evening
A glimpse toward Etna from the Hotel Gemmellaro, Nicolosi, on the evening of 25 September, and once more the Southeast Crater is in spectacular eruption! Of course those who were on the mountain at that time had a much more awesome show to see, but seen from Nicolosi, one got quite a good impression of the dynamics of this event. The small horizontal line of lights visible between the illuminated buildings in the foreground and the glow at the summit is the road illumination at the tourist complex around the Rifugio Sapienza

...and still another one the next morning, 26 September 1989

26 September 1989
And there it goes again! This is the morning of 26 September 1989, and yet another paroxysm is beginning at the Southeast Crater. This time it's more powerful than its predecessors, with a dense column of ash rising rapidly into the clear morning sky
26 September 1989

Within a few minutes the paroxysm gains amazingly in strength, and the eruption column rises higher and higher, accompanied by a notable increase in the noise level. Ash begins to fall from the eruption column onto the eastern flank of the volcano. The white steam column rising before the dark main eruption column is rising from rapidly expanding lava flows on the southern side of the Southeast Crater

26 September 1989
26 September 1989 The eruptive episode reaches its climax within less than 30 minutes after its beginning... 26 September 1989
26 September 1989 ...and then something strange happens. A second ash plume rises from a site somewhat lower down on the eastern flank, suggesting the beginning of a flank eruption (the previous flank eruption lasted from October 1986 until February 1987). But after a few minutes ash emission from this second site ceases, and the expected flank eruption is to begin only on the next day... The cause of this brief ash emission remains mysterious but might have been caused by lava flowing over a patch of snow buried under tephra, or a landslide on the steep western slope of the Valle del Bove 26 September 1989

Below the Southeast Crater, 26 September 1989

26 September 1989
Waiting for the next move of the Southeast Crater at the Torre del Filosofo mountain hut (the stone building of which part is visible in the background), around noon on 26 September 1989. An international group of people has assembled on the spot. From right to left: David Rothery, of the Open University at Milton Keyes, UK; Lori Glaze, now at the Geodynamics Branch of the NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, USA; Clive Oppenheimer, of the Geography Department of Cambridge University, UK; and Karin Eusterhues, then student in geosciences at the Ruhr-University Bochum (which was where I studied geology as well) and now with the Technische Universität München, Germany. The lava on which the group is sitting is from one of the paroxysms of the Southeast Crater, out of the view to the right, only 1 km away. The wooden shack seen in left background fell victim to a lava flow from the Southeast Crater in 2000, and the Torre del Filosofo building itself was buried by pyroclastics during the 2002-2003 eruption
26 September 1989

While waiting for something to happen at Torre del Filosofo, we see a series of puffs of ash rising from the Southeast Crater, generally the first sign of a new paroxysm... But this time no paroxysms follows, and for much of the time the summit remains veiled in weather clouds

26 September 1989
26 September 1989 By the way, the Southeast Crater: at left that's how it looked on 26 September 1989. Right photograph shows the same crater, seen from exactly the same spot, on 9 June 2003. The difference in height of the cone is somewhere in the range of 250 m, indicating an amazing rate of growth 26 September 1989
26 September 1989 Left: during one of the previous paroxysms at the Southeast Crater, a lava flow reached and scratched the wall of the Torre del Filosofo building
Right: fumarole with sulfur and gypsum deposits on the surface of a very recent lava flow emitted during a paroxysm of the Southeast Crater
26 September 1989

Flank eruption begins, 27 September 1989

27 September 1989
On the evening of 27 September it is clear that eruptive activity has begun on the east-northeastern flank of Etna: a red glow over the Valle del Leone (right) marks the site of a new eruptive fissure and of a lava flow that is descending into the Valle del Bove. The small red dot further left is a Strombolian burst at the Southeast Crater. The line of lights below that small red dot represents the lights of the road at the Rifugio Sapienza tourist complex
27 September 1989

Throughout 27 September 1989, the Southeast Crater had emitted a continuous plume of gray ash, which drifted toward east. Left photograph was taken at Nicolosi, after a heavy thunderstorm which left a light dusting of snow at Etna's summit. Right photograph was taken from the Catania-Nicolosi road

Ash from the Southeast Crater, 28 September 1989

28 September 1989

On the morning of 28 September 1989, the ash plume rising from the Southeast Crater appears denser than on the previous day. Left: the view from the central square of Nicolosi, right: view through the window of a vehicle driving up towards the Rifugio Sapienza area, about 2 km north of Nicolosi

28 September 1989
28 September 1989

Left: ash plumes rising from the Southeast Crater, seen from about 2500 m elevation on the south flank of Etna, 28 September 1989
Right: new ground fractures have opened near the rim of the Valle del Bove, cutting through lava flows erupted from the Southeast Crater only a few days earlier

28 September 1989

Strombolian bursts and flank lava flow, 28 September 1989

28 September 1989

At nightfall, as the cloud cover lifts, the Southeast Crater returns visible, displaying a beautiful Strombolian activity (left). A view from the "Belvedere" lookout into the Valle del Bove reveals the lava flow of the flank eruption

28 September 1989

The Southeast Crater in full activity, 29 September 1989

29 September 1989

Another climb to the site of the impressive ash emissions at the Southeast Crater on the morning of 29 September 1989. The ash plumes are emitted more forcefully than on the previous day and often rise in pulses

29 September 1989
29 September 1989

The erupting Southeast Crater seen from a spot about 700 m to the southwest. Many bursts of ash and blocks form characteristic "tephra fingers"; the noise is limited to a muffled rumbling

28 September 1989
29 September 1989
View from the "Schiena dell'Asino", to the E of the Montagnola, of the Southeast Crater in Strombolian activity on the evening of 29 September 1989. The small white dot immediately to the left of the crater is the Torre del Filosofo mountain hut, actually 1 km to the south of the Southeast Crater. Reddish color at right margin of photograph is caused by reflection of the glow of the lava flow in the Valle del Bove

A farewell look at erupting Etna, 30 September 1989

30 September 1989
This photograph was taken during a stop of the train, which brought me back home to Germany, at the station of Giarre-Riposto, to the east of Etna, on the late evening of 30 September 1989. The glow from the active lava flow in the Valle del Bove illuminates the sky above the volcano, and the towns and villages on the eastern flank seem to lie uncomfortably close to the fiery river. Actually, the eruption did not directly threaten inhabited areas; it ended ten days later

More photos of the 1989 eruption

Continue to 1990

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Copyright © Boris Behncke, "Italy's Volcanoes: The Cradle of Volcanology"

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