A brief history of Mount Etna

The volcano has been showing signs of activity since September of 2019, growing stronger with time. Scientists at the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology’s Etna Observatory are not sure for how long the eruptions will go on.

Etna is around 3,350 meters / 11,000 feet above sea level and 35 kilometers at its widest point; the height of the mountain keeps changing due to the major volcanic activity.

The towns surrounding Etna don’t face as much trouble as one would assume, while stones rain down on the town sometimes, the lava actually leaves behind fertile soil, apple and citrus trees flourish and wine from grapes grown on the slopes are a huge seller.

One of Etna’s first recorded eruptions was in the year 396 B.C, while the worst was in 1669 - when lava buried a swath of Catania, ruining many villages. More recently, in 1992, the army built a wall to hold back lava from hitting Zafferana Etnea, a village of a few thousand people.