The National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, Etna Observatory (INGV-OE), communicates that this morning the stations of the Seismic Network recorded a seismic swarm in the medium-upper north-eastern slope of Etna. From the beginning of the day until 12:45 local time, 46 seismic tremors were recorded, most of these only detectable at an instrumental level.
The main events occurred at 10:28 (Magnitudo M=3.8), 10:32 (M=2.9), 10:36 (M=2.4) and 11:53 (M=3.2). These events were located in the area between Piano Provenzana and Piano Pernicana at a depth of about 2-4 km from the topographic surface.
In coincidence with the seismic swarm, episodes of fracturing were reported, with openings of about 2-4 cm, which affected the Mareneve road surface, above an altitude of 1450 m asl
At the same time, today, two earthquakes were also recorded in the Solicchiata area (lower northern slope of the volcano) at 00.21 local time (M=2.6) and at 10.36 local time (M=2.4) with depths between 7 and 14 km.
The INGV-OE researchers are working to characterize the phenomenon, by analyzing the seismicity and the slow deformations of the ground; the operations room continues to monitor the evolution of the situation, promptly updating the Civil Protection Department and the local civil protection structures.