At 13:12 PM local time on Wednesday 4 March 2026, Mount Etna was affected by an impulsive explosive event, lasting a few minutes, which involved the summit crater called Bocca Nuova.
This phenomenon generated a modest ash cloud about 1.5 km high, which the high-altitude winds rapidly dispersed in a north-east direction, causing a light fall of ash in the upper part of the volcano.
These types of phenomena occur suddenly without any geophysical precursor signals and are among the various types of explosive events that can occur at Etna's summit craters.
On August 25, 2010, the Bocca Nuova Crater was affected by an impulsive event with the same characteristics as today's.
At present, there are no signs of correlation between this explosive event and the magnitude 4.5 seismic event that occurred this morning at 07:05 a.m. local time in the province of Catania.
Photo 1: Image from the La Montagnola video surveillance camera showing the ash column generated by the Bocca Nuova crater
Photo 2: Image from the Bronte video surveillance camera showing the ash column generated by the Bocca Nuova Crater.