The city of Catania is situated south of the volcano. The lower part of this continental volcano has a base of about 60 x 40 km, an altitude of about 2900 m, and is a shield. The upper part is a strato volcano. The composition of Etna’s lava is similar to alkali basalt and trachybasalt. This means that the lava is basic, with low Si₂O₃ content. Volcanoes producing this kind of lava are not very explosive.  
 

	Satellite image of Etna, July 2001

This exercise will concentrate on the eruption which occurred on 7 July 2001 and lasted until 9 August of the same year. It originated from 7 eruptive fissures located near the SE crater on the S and NE flanks, flowed down the south flank of Etna in the direction of the town of Nicolosi and destroyed the Rifugio Sapienza, the cable car and ski lifts, and the Valle del Leone in the NE flank. 30 million m3 of magma was deposited, consisting of about 25 million m3 of lava and 5-10 million m3 of pyroclastics. An area of 5.5km2 was covered by the lava. Ash was spread in the atmosphere by a volcanic plume, forcing the closure of the Catania Airport.
 
 
History of major eruptions:
 

Date Characteristics 1669 S-flank: Monte Rossi Mar – Apr 1910 S-flank: Lava 1km W of Nicolosi Sep 1911 NE-flank: Threat to Linguaglossa Nov 1928 ENE-flank: Mascali & railways destroyed Nov 1950 – Dec 1951 ENE-flank: Valle del Bove, land damage Apr – Jun 1971 SE-flank to Valle del Bove, threat to villages May, Aug, Nov 1978 SE Crater, Valle del Bove, Valle del Leone Mar 1981 NNW-flank: threat to Randazzo, railways Mar - Aug 83, Mar - Jul 85 S-flank Oct 1982 – Feb 1987 Valle del Bove, SE Crater Jul – Aug 2001 SE Crater, S & NE-flank, threat to Nicolosi, ashfalls - Catania airport closed Oct 2002 – Jan 2003 NE & S-flank, ashfalls - Catania airport closed 2004, 05, 06, 07, 08 SE Crater, Bocca Nuova