Etna Volcano

26/02/2026

🌋 New Research on Etna Just Published!
A new open‑access study from INGV–Osservatorio Etneo presents integrated monitoring of soil radon gas and seismic activity at Mount Etna (2023–2025).

The research shows that radon anomalies often precede increases in volcanic tremor and correlate with Strombolian activity at the summit craters — suggesting radon may act as a short‑term precursor of volcanic unrest.

📄 Quaternary (MDPI), 2026
🔗 Full article: https://doi.org/10.3390/quat9010016 (doi.org in Bing)
https://www.mdpi.com/2571-550X/9/1/16

This work presents the results of an integrated monitoring of soil radon gas and seismic activity at Mt. Etna from August 2023 to May 2025, aimed at enhancing comprehension of magma migration and eruption dynamics. Radon data were collected using a permanent station with an alpha particle probe, agg...

01/02/2026

🌋 Etna, December 26, 2018.
An earthquake that changed the lives of thousands of families. Damaged homes, blocked roads, wounded communities. From that day on, a difficult journey began — made of fear, bureaucracy, waiting… but also of competence, dedication, and the desire to start again.

Today I’m happy to share a result that holds special meaning for all of us:
📄 the publication of our scientific article in GeoHazards (MDPI), dedicated to the reconstruction model we built together, step by step.

💛 Behind this article is the work of many people.
Technicians, public officials, researchers, administrators, citizens.
There are those who spent months mapping damage, those who studied every single fracture in the ground, those who digitalized complex procedures to make them simpler and more transparent, those who listened to the stories of people who had lost everything.

💡 Our idea was simple and revolutionary at the same time:
to transform reconstruction into an opportunity to make the territory safer than before.
Not just repairing, but regenerating.
Not just providing financial support, but doing so with clear, fair, and verifiable criteria.
Not just drawing maps and identifying hazards, but also sharing knowledge openly and responsibly.

📌 In our article, we describe how the digital platform of the Extraordinary Commissioner brought together:
• parametric damage assessment,
• geohazard integration,
• administrative transparency,
• public monitoring tools,
• and a method that can be replicated elsewhere.

Yes, it is a technical work.
But above all, it is a human one — born from passion and determination.
A way to restore trust, to show that reconstruction can be done well, with rigor and with respect for people and for the land.

A heartfelt thank you to all the colleagues who shared this journey.
And thanks to the communities of Etna, who remind us every day why this work matters.

Post-disaster reconstruction requires instruments capable of ensuring procedural consistency, administrative transparency, and the systematic integration of geohazards, all of which are essential for safeguarding communities. This study presents the digital platform established under Italian Law 55/...

04/12/2025

🌋 Etna and the Fiandaca Fault: new discoveries on historical seismicity
A team of researchers studied the surface ruptures produced by the Fleri earthquake of December 26, 2018 (Mw 5.0), identifying evidence of two additional seismic events that occurred in the past: one between 1281 and 1926 (likely in 1894) and an even older one, between 757 and 894 CE. These investigations show that the Fiandaca Fault has experienced more intense seismic activity in recent centuries, with crustal movement rates nearly doubling compared to the Greek-Roman period.
👉 These findings confirm the importance of paleoseismological and morphotectonic studies for understanding seismic hazards in volcanic areas such as Etna.

Abstract. We present the first paleoseismological results along the Fiandaca Fault, source of the 26 December 2018, Mw 5.0 Fleri earthquake. This earthquake caused extensive damage and 8 km of surface faulting. We excavated two exploratory trenches close to the Fiandaca village, in the central seg...

04/11/2025

📄 New Publication Alert! How can we rebuild more safely after an earthquake? The 2018 Etna earthquake offers valuable insights.

🔍 This English-language paper explores how relocating buildings and revitalizing public spaces helped communities become more resilient—turning risk into opportunity.

💡 An innovative approach—replicated in other Italian contexts—that blends urban planning, scientific communication, and attention to psychological well-being.

📥 Download the full PDF here: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/15/9/333

23/04/2025

16/04/2025

4.8 magnitude earthquake in the Ionian Sea, INGV expert Neri clarifies the situation

AUGUSTA – The earthquake in the Ionian Sea, which woke up the citizens of eastern Sicily and southern Calabria at 3:26 a.m. on Wednesday, April 16, is the result of a known seismogenic phenomenon. We asked Marco Neri, an expert from Augusta and research director at the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), who since 2020 has been deputy commissioner of the Italian government for the reconstruction of the Etna area affected by the 2018 earthquake.
"The earthquake, with a local magnitude of ML 4.8, occurred at 3:26 a.m. on April 16 on the seabed of the Ionian Sea, about 80 km from Acireale, with a hypocentral depth of 48 km. The combination of the earthquake's energy and its hypocentral depth,” explains Neri, ”probably caused the earthquake to be distinctly felt in southern Calabria and especially in eastern Sicily, where it caused concern among the population.”
“This is a tectonic earthquake, i.e., produced by a seismogenic fault that fractures the earth's crust,” he continues. ‘In the epicentral area, the Ionian seabed is crossed by a structure known as the ’Ionian Fault,' oriented approximately NW-SE, which segments the seabed with extensional and translational movements, in a more general compressive tectonic context that determines the subduction, i.e., the deepening, of the African plate under the Eurasian plate.”
“Despite occurring just one day after the Strombolian eruption of Mount Etna on April 15, which affected the volcano's Southeast Crater,” explains the INGV research director, ”the earthquake on April 16 has no demonstrable connection with this eruptive activity.” “The earthquake was essentially isolated,” he concluded, referring to fears of nearby tremors, ” and it is not possible to hypothesize the occurrence of aftershocks of even greater magnitude, even though the area is characterized by high seismic hazard, with fairly strong earthquakes of up to M 5.5 having occurred in the past.”
(Cover image: simplified tectonic map of Sicily and southern Calabria; the red star indicates the epicenter of the ML4.8 earthquake on April 16, 2025).

AUGUSTA – Il terremoto nel mar Ionio, che alle 3,26 di questo mercoledì 16 aprile ha svegliato i cittadini della Sicilia orientale e della Calabria meridionale, è conseguenza di una fenomeno sismogenetico noto sul quale abbiamo interpellato l’esperto augustano Marco Neri, dirigente di ricerca ...

09/02/2025

13/01/2025

Etna 2018 earthquake: rebuild or relocate?
You can find the answer here:

Etna 2018 earthquake: rebuild or relocate? Applying geoethical principles to natural disaster recovery planning Article Sidebar PDF Published: Dec 20, 2024 DOI: https://doi.org/10.13127/jgsg-49 Keywords: Geohazard, Geoethics, Post-earthquake reconstruction, Fault, Risk reduction, Relocation, Disaste...

10/01/2025

Un innovativo studio multidisciplinare analizza la delicata situazione di coloro che abitano e lavorano in aree soggette a rischi naturaliPromuovere la possibilità di costruire abitazioni e attività lontano da zone situate lungo la faglia sismica dell’Etna e nelle sue immediate vicinanze, evitan...