An active lava channel near the vent of the March 1981 NW flank eruption fed flows that traveled 7.5 km. The week-long eruption, one of few Etna eruptions originating on the NW or NNW flanks, entered populated areas and resulted in evacuations. Active vents progressively migrated downhill along eruptive fissures between 2,250 and 1,150 m altitude and produced vigorous lava fountains and lava flows.

Photo by Roberto Scandone (University of Rome).

This image is made available under the Creative Commons BY-NC 4.0 license terms.

Keywords: stratovolcano | lava flow | eruption

Etna