Mt. Etna, Sicily 5/24/1996 Is Largest Active Volcano In Europe

Eruptions Expected Every Five Years
By Bob Van Leer

(CATANIA, Sicily, May 24, 1996) - Mt. Etna dominates this region not only by its height (3300 meters) but by its frequent eruptions. It is Europe's largest active volcano and eruptions are expected on the average of every five years. The last was 1992 and the volcano is always smoking. We took a tour up Mt. Etna to the 2000 meter level. The last dozen miles of the road was built through a lava slide of 1983. That eruption took out miles of road and a number of houses

One frequently photographed house is in the bend of a switchback and just the roof is showing above the lava. The eruptions don't always come from the same location. There are approximately 100 craters around the mountain. Two small ones were close to the stop we made at the 2000 meter level. At that height, there was still some snow. The restaurant and ski cable tow area at the stop have been destroyed and rebuilt three times. Catania lives with the volcano as a tradeoff.

Eruptions are a problem, and can be serious, such as the eruption of 1659 that buried Catania. But in a couple of hundred years, the lava breaks down into very fertile soil and supports a prosperous agricultural industry. Catania, the second city of Sicily, has a population of about 500,000,(about a million including the suburbs). The whole of Sicily, which is part of Italy, has a population of about 5 million. The symbol of the city is the Elephant Fountain in the Piazza del Duomo in the center of the city. A base is topped with an elephant carved out of volcanic rock and topped with an Egyptian obelisk growing out of the elephant's back. I wasn't able to find the story behind this unusual symbol. Our stay in Sicily was short and at 1:00 p.m. we set sail for Alexandria, Egypt, 821 nautical miles, and one more time zone, away. We will be 10 hours ahead of Gold Beach tomorrow.