INGV reported that on 28 December a helicopter overflight of Etna's New Southeast Crater (NSEC) revealed a crater floor partially covered with snow, and weak fumarolic activity on the N, W, and S crater rims. During the early morning hours on 29 December a camera recorded weak and sporadic incandescence from NSEC. Strong pulsating degassing also occurred at Northeast Crater. At 1115 NSEC produced a single Strombolian explosion, accompanied by an ash plume that rose 1 km and drifted E. After the explosion mild Strombolian activity continued and then progressively intensified in the evening. Frequent powerful explosions from two vents located within the crater were audible in a vast sector around the volcano. Diffuse ash plumes drifted NE. Contemporaneously, two lava flows are active, one from a vent on the E flank of the NSEC cone, and the second, fed directly from the crater, traveled down the NE flank of the cone.

Geological Summary. Mount Etna, towering above Catania on the island of Sicily, has one of the world's longest documented records of volcanism, dating back to 1500 BCE. Historical lava flows of basaltic composition cover much of the surface of this massive volcano, whose edifice is the highest and most voluminous in Italy. The Mongibello stratovolcano, truncated by several small calderas, was constructed during the late Pleistocene and Holocene over an older shield volcano. The most prominent morphological feature of Etna is the Valle del Bove, a 5 x 10 km caldera open to the east. Two styles of eruptive activity typically occur, sometimes simultaneously. Persistent explosive eruptions, sometimes with minor lava emissions, take place from one or more summit craters. Flank vents, typically with higher effusion rates, are less frequently active and originate from fissures that open progressively downward from near the summit (usually accompanied by Strombolian eruptions at the upper end). Cinder cones are commonly constructed over the vents of lower-flank lava flows. Lava flows extend to the foot of the volcano on all sides and have reached the sea over a broad area on the SE flank.

Source: Sezione di Catania - Osservatorio Etneo (INGV)