Left: Eruptive activity at the "Eastern vents" at the southeastern base of Etna's main summit cone (visible at left), in April 1971. A number of small scoria cones and hornitos are building at the eruptive vents.
Right: Lava is encroaching on the Observatory building (at right). The burial of the building is proceeding at agonizingly slow speed, with successive lava surges piling up ever higher around the Observatory.

Left: One of the main cone clusters formed during the first stage of the 1971 eruption, named "Observatory vents". It was the lava from this cone cluster that buried the old Etna Observatory which lay a few hundred meters downslope. - Center: Another view of the "Observatory vents" in Strombolian activity. - Right: A lava tongue is moving down Etna's southern flank. In the center background one of the poles of the first Etna cable-car can be seen; many of these poles and the middle and upper stations of the cable-car were later destroyed by the lava of the same eruption.

These photos show the slow death of the Etna Observatory. It can be seen that, although a part of the building was crushed under the lava, the massive central portion was simply buried by lava that gradually piled up higher and higher around the building. Unfortunately the negatives of these photos had some bad scratches which show as white lines in the photos.

Two more photos showing the burial of the Etna Observatory under the lava of the 1971 eruption. Person in the photo at right is Cucuzza-Silvestri, at that time Professor of Volcanology at Catania University.

Left: Ash billowing from the Voragine during the first phase of the 1971 eruption. View is from SE flank of the main summit cone
Center: Mild explosive activity at the "Vulcarolo vents"
Right: Explosive activity at the eastern vents (at right) with simultaneous ash emission from the Voragine

Left: Eastern vents after the cessation of eruptive activity. Part of the main summit cone is visible in the upper left part of the photograph; the cone of the NE Crater is visible at the far right
Center: Lava fountains playing above the Observatory vents in April 1971
Right: View southwards along a lava flow erupted early in the eruption that is spilling down the S flank of Etna towards the Piano del Lago (see map at the top of this page for location). The conspicuous cone in the left background is the Montagnola, the building at its right base is the Piccolo Rifugio

Left: Only the cupola of the Observatory is protruding from the lava which piles up around the building
Center: Lava flows moving over relatively flat terrain in the Piano del Lago. The hill in the right center background carrying the newly built Torre del Filosofo mountain hut is a remainder of the Piano Caldera rim. Main summit cone is hidden behind fumes in left background
Right: Hazy shot of a lava lobe moving towards the Torre del Filosofo mountain hut. The building, which had been constructed only a few years before the 1971 eruption was threatened but not destroyed by this event; in 1989 a lava flow reached one corner o the building, but as of early 2000 it is still standing, although it has never been inaugurated as a mountain hut

Left: The "Observatory vents" in mild activity, with part of Etna's main summit cone in the background. People at right give scale. - Center: Lava flows on the southeastern side of the main summit cone, and the "Eastern vents" are visible in the right background. - Right: Burial of the Observatory is almost complete, only the roof is still protruding from the relentless lava.

Left: A bright orange glow below the main summit cone lights the upper southern flank of Etna on the evening of 8 April 1971, three days after the beginning of the eruption. Lava flows down the slope close to the cable car and has already destroyed several of its poles. The hill to the right is part of the rim of the "Piano caldera", probably formed during a violent Plinian eruption in 122 BC. On its top stands the Torre del Filosofo mountain hut. - Center: Lava is gradually enveloping the old Etna observatory; the building is gradually building by overlapping lava flows. This photo was taken by Scarpinati on 15 April 1971. - Right: A suggestive shot taken by Scarpinati at the newly formed cones near the buried Observatory on 24 April 1971. The outline of the main summit cones appears through the Strombolian fountains.

A cluster of cinder and spatter cones ("Observatory vents") is growing during the first phase of the 1971 eruption near the southeastern base of the main summit cone. Photo was taken in mid-April 1971 by Giuseppe Scarpinati

Photos taken by Carmelo Sturiale after the end of the 1971 eruption, showing the lava flows emitted during the first phase of the eruption and other effects of the activity in the summit area.
Left: Aerial view of lava flows covering the Piano del Lago immediately N of the Montagnola. The conspicuous pit crater near right margin of image formed during the 1792-1793 flank eruption and is known as the "Cisternazza"
Center: Looking down from the SE rim of the Central Crater towards the W rim of the Valle del Bove. The pit in the foreground formed during the second phase of the 1971 eruption (see below)

The two photos at right were taken by Carmelo Sturiale during the second phase of the 1971 eruption.
Top: On 7 and 8 May 1971, new fissures open across the northwestern part of the Valle del Bove towards its northern rim. The most productive of these fissures lie outside the Valle del Bove near the Rifugio Citelli. One of these fissure vents is shown in the photo at right, emitting fluid, degassed lava, which flows through forests towards the villages of Fornazzo and Sant'Alfio.
Bottom: Lava is slowly burying a bridge near the village of Fornazzo. Cultivated land in the adjacent areas is also destroyed by the lava which threatens to destroy Fornazzo and the nearby village of Sant'Alfio.

During the second stage of the 1971 eruption, eruptive fissures propagated downslope northeastwards across Valle del Bove and beyond, into the Contrada Serracozzo. In mid-May, while the flank eruption seriously threatened villages and cultivated land on the eastern flank, a new vent opened on the SE base of the main summit cone (visible at left in both photographs), apparently serving as a degassing valve to the flank eruption. The activity at this vent ejected only old fragmental material. Seven years later, in April 1998, magmatic activity occurred at the same site, initiating the vigorous life of what became the SE Crater (or SE Cone). These photos were taken by Carmelo Sturiale.

Two spectacular nocturnal views of the lava flows issuing from the eruptive fissure near the Rifugio Citelli, taken by Giuseppe Scarpinati

Aerial views (by Carmelo Sturiale) of lava flows extending from the Contrada Serracozzo/Citelli vents towards the populated and agricultural areas near Fornazzo and Sant'Alfio. The lava has eaten through dense forests (left and center). Right photo shows the northern margin of the village of Fornazzo at lower left, and the lava flows, which have narrowly missed the village, extending through the narrow stream-cut gorge of the Vallone Cava Grande. One arm of lava has cut the road leading from Fornazzo to Sant'Alfio (lying outside the photo at right)

Aerial view of the ENE flank of Etna after the end of the eruption. N rim of Valle del Bove (Contrada Serracozze) is in the foreground, culminating at right in the Pizzi Deneri. W slope of Valle del Bove is in center-left part of the photo, with dark lava flows emplaced at the beginning of the second stage of the 1971 eruption, before activity migrated out of the Valle del Bove to near Rifugio Citelli (out of photo at right). Summit cone complex has the main summit cone at left, and the smaller NE Crater cone, with the "Nordestino" (a large hornito active in 1970) at right. Photo Sturiale

Aerial view taken by Sturiale after the end of the 1971 eruption, showing the eruptive fissures at the Contrada Serracozze which delivered the destructive lava flows of the second phase of the eruption. Lava effusion occurred from two fissure segments indicated as white bars. Behind the crest of the Contrada Serracozze, in the upper third of the photo, lies the Valle del Bove, on whose floor several dark lava flows erupted during the initial stage of the flank eruption are visible. View is towards SW