The Department of Civil Protection has ordered the alert level for Mount Etna to be raised from "green," which corresponds to ordinary activity, to "yellow," and the consequent activation of the "attention" operational phase, as required by the National Emergency Plan.
This decision, following the opening of an eruptive fracture at the base of the New Southeast Crater, was made in light of the assessments that emerged during today's extraordinary meeting with the Competence Centers and the Civil Protection Department of the Sicilian Region. The rising level requires the strengthening of the volcano's monitoring system and the activation of a constant information link between the scientific community and the other components and operational structures of the National Civil Protection Service. This assessment, explains the Civil Protection, is based on the reports of phenomena and hazard assessments made available by the Competence Centers, which for Etna are the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (Etna Observatory and Palermo Section) and the Earth Sciences Department of the University of Florence. The Civil Protection Department shares the information with the Sicilian Region's civil protection unit, which, particularly in relation to local impact scenarios, alerts the local civil protection units and adopts any necessary measures in response to emergency situations. Regardless of local volcanic phenomena, which can frequently fluctuate, a situation of increased imbalance persists within the volcano. It is therefore important to keep in mind that alert level changes may not necessarily occur sequentially or gradually, as sudden or unexpected changes in activity are always possible.
Article published on July 27, 2019 - 20:11 PM - Editorial Staff
