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Part
2: Flank eruption, 17 July - 9 August 2001
An
evening of fire, 22 July 2001
Together
with a team of German journalists we approach Nicolosi and then proceed
to the area of the Rifugio Sapienza, where frantic work is under way
to salvage the tourist infrastructures from lava flows that spill down
along the ski track and the cable car from the eruptive vents at 2700
m elevation. Only a few hundred meters away, another eruptive fissure
at 2100 m elevation pours out a large lava flow that crosses the access
road from Zafferana and advances in the direction of Nicolosi. It is
hard to believe that this is the same place which I have visited more
than 100 times during the previous years, and which has always given
an illusion of stability and eternity. Now, everything looks different,
and many features I have been familiar with are rapidly transferred
into memory, only to be revived when looking at the numerous photographs
taken during the past few years.
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A
river of molten rock spills down the southern flank of Etna on
the evening of 22 July 2001, in the direction of the densely populated
areas further downslope. We have seen many eruptions on many evenings
in the past years, always with the splendid background of the
lights of Catania and surrounding towns. But those eruptions were
at the summit and did not represent any threat to inhabited areas.
This time the situation is much more dramatic. And above in the
night sky, a dense plume of ash (emitted from the explosive vents
on the Piano del Lago) is drifting southwards, reaching distances
of several hundred kilometers from the volcano |
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Left:
the view of Etna's ash plume from the Central railway station of
Catania on the afternoon of 22 July 2001
Right: amidst weather clouds partially covering the volcano, a brownish
column of ash is seen rising from the volcano at sunset on the same
day. In the foreground are the outskirts of Nicolosi, and a few
of Etna's numerous flank cones |
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Left:
a surrealistic panorama of Etna's southern flank, ripped open by
five new eruptive fissures (a sixth one lies on the upper northeastern
flank), from a place north of Nicolosi
Right: even more surrealistic, the illuminated tourist infrastructures
of the Rifugio Sapienza with the eruptive vents at 2100 m in the
background |
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Left:
Strombolian activity at the newly forming main cone of the eruptive
fissure at 2100 m on the evening of 22 July 2001
Right: a broad lava flow streams from the 2100 m vents around the
western side of the Monti Silvestri (formed in 1892), which can
be faintly seen in the upper right background |
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Scenes from a battlefield, 23-24 July 2001
Returning
to the erupting volcano at daylight on 23 July 2001, the situation becomes
clearer to me. What on the previous evening seemed largely a fiery spectacle
is now seen to be a peculiar kind of battle - the battle fought by the
owners of the tourist facilities around the Rifugio Sapienza against the
menacing lava. The impression of war is reinforced by the presence of
military, police and by the continuous detonations produced at the eruptive
vents. So far, the eruption has only caused little damage (the access
road from Zafferana has been interrupted by a lava flow), but the continued
advance of lava from eruptive vents located higher upslope directly threatens
some of the tourist installations, most of all the cable car, which had
already been destroyed twice by eruptions, in 1971 and 1983. And if things
hadn't been enough already, yet another eruptive fissure (the seventh)
opens on the southeastern flank of the Southeast Crater cone, emitting
a small lava flow
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At
times, one can see strange coincidences of strikingly different
stories in a single image. This photograph, taken on the morning
of 23 July 2001, shows eruptive activity at two sites on the southern
flank of Etna in the background (2570 and 2100 m), and the lava
flow of the 1983 eruption in the foreground, which affected a similar
area. That flow buried many buildings in its path (actually, the
1983 eruption was far more devastating than the 2001 eruption),
including one belonging to a catholic order that possesses large
areas of land on the southern flank of the volcano. During the late-1990s
a new building (seen in the center of this image) was raised in
the same spot, but construction was prohibited just when the building
was about to be finished. The reason: this new building was much
larger than the pre-1983 structure. Reconstruction is allowed in
exactly the same place where a building has once stood, but the
new building may not be larger than the previous one. This is one
remarkable example of how things work in Sicily - many buildings
are constructed without authorization, and often construction is
stopped in the last moment. Some are later finished (after some
mysterious kind of agreement is found), but many remain as unfinished
skeletons in the middle of the landscape or within towns |
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Scenes
like from a war can be seen on 23 July 2001 at the tourist complex
of Rifugio Sapienza (some of the buildings are visible in the left-hand
photograph). Eruptive activity is in full swing at |
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The
lowest of the new eruptive fissures on the southern flank (2100
m) lies only a few hundred meters from the tourist station of Rifugio
Sapienza (which is seen at lower left in the left photograph), but
in spite of its vigorous activity (note the phreatomagmatic ash
emissions from the higher vents in the right photograph) it does
not threaten the tourist facilities |
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Nearly
twelve years lie between these two photographs taken from nearly
identical positions and showing the impressive chain of pyroclastic
cones of the Monti Silvestri, close to the tourist station of Rifugio
Sapienza. The upper photograph (which is actually a photomosaic)
was taken on 29 September 1989, when another (relatively harmless)
flank eruption was under way in the Valle del Leone. Lower photograph,
taken on 23 July 2001, shows the same site under more dramatic circumstances.
A parking lot and the access road from Zafferana have been buried
by the large lava flow issuing from the vents at 2100 m elevation,
and a large restaurant (seen between the two largest of the Monti
Silvestri cones) has narrowly escaped distruction. Yet another section
of the road will be buried under more lava a few days later |
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More
views of phreatomagmatic ash emissions from the smaller vents above
the main pyroclastic cone at 2100 m elevation on 23 July 2001. Note
that there are no cones growing around these vents in spite of the
violence of their activity |
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Waiting
for the next assault of the lava: caterpillars are ready to be used
for the construction of earth barriers and deviation channels for
the lava flows that creep down the steep slope above the tourist
complex of the Rifugio Sapienza (a small steam plume above the slope
behind the caterpillars indicates the presence of these flows).
Meanwhile, dark ash plumes are rising above the crest of the Montagnola
(the conspicuous cone in the center of the image), originating at
the phreatomagmatic vents on the Piano del Lago, at 2570 m elevation.
Nearly 500 m further downslope, the lowest of the newly formed eruptive
fissures (2100 m) is visible at extreme right |
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Left:
on the morning of 24 July, the scene is almost exactly the same
as on the previous day, with voluminous ash emission from the vents
at 2570 m, which lie hidden behind the Montagnola, and mild Strombolian
activity and lava emission from the vents at 2100 m, marked by white
gas emission. This view is from the Nicolosi-Rifugio Sapienza road,
at about 1000 m altitude. The summit area with the Bocca Nuova and
the cone of the Southeast Crater, both emitting dilute gas plumes,
is visible in the left background
Right: fountains of ash and dark blocks rise continuously from the
vents at 2570 m, which are not directly visible from the south flank
(the gray crest below the ash plume is a part of the Montagnola),
and ash is raining down on the areas mostly to the southeast of
the volcano, creating problems especially for air traffic, with
repeated closures of the international airport of Catania |
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Left:
an emblematic picture, the threatened departure station of the cable
car with an menacing black ash plume drifting overhead
Right: on 24 July, activity at the main cone at 2100 m is much weaker
than during the preceding days, but occasional strong bursts occur
at two smaller vents lying within the lava flow channel below the
cone |
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Two
views of the eruption theater on the southern flank on the evening
of 24 July 2001. Left photograph shows a ribbon of glowing lava
flowing out of the fissure at 2100 m, and ash emission from the
2570 m vents. A zoom on those vents (right photograph) reveals that
there is more and more incandescent material in the emissions -
the activity there is changing |
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Continue
to 25 July 2001
Return
to the Etna photo gallery
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