Satellite data shows that Mount Etna moved by 50 cm during Christmas time seismic activity
8402 Mins Read
Italian scientists have analyzed satellite data from the Italian Cosmo-SkyMed and the European Sentinel satellites, which passed over Etna both before and after the short, but intense flank eruption that began on 24 December 2018 and the seismic crisis that accompanied this event and culminated in the 4.8 magnitude early on 26 Dec with an epicenter near the villages Viagrande, Trecastagni and Fleri on the southeastern side of Etna.
Comparing the data, they were able to calculate how the shape of the volcano changed due to the intrusion of the magma, which in parts rose to the surface through the new eruptive fissures, and in parts became “stuck” as shallow and deeper intrusions.
The results are stunning:
– the western slope of Etna has moved 30 centimeters to the west (in red on the map, figure c);
– the eastern slope moved 50 centimeters to the east (in blue on the map, figure c).
The star at the bottom right indicates the epicenter of mentioned strongest quake.
The main fault involved was the so-called Fiandaca fault, where the earth’s crust has moved eastwards by 12-14 centimeters and westwards by 15-17 centimeters. Other faults were also involved in the swarm, but more indirectly, as reactions to the main movement on the Fiandaca fault: the of Pernicanca fault (on the north-eastern side) moved 3 centimeters, the Ragalna fault (south-west slope) and that of Borello-Ognina (south slope) of 2 centimeters.
