Ground deformations on the North-eastetrn sector of Mt. Etna volcano (Sicily), preceding and during the October 2001 flank eruption, monitored by GPS
Abstract
The intense dynamics of the eastern flank of Mt. Etna detected during the July 2002 GPS survey underwent an abrupt acceleration during the month preceding the onset of the lateral eruption on the North-eastern flank of the volcano, on October 27th. The GPS survey carried out after the seismic event of September 22th on the North-eastern part of the network, detected a significant dislocation of two small sub-networks, installed along the E-W trending Pernicana fault. The motion of the station installed at Mt. Crisimo, at higher altitude, confirmed this pattern also. All stations lying on the southern side of the fault showed a displacement of about 4 cm. At the beginning of the eruption, a subset of stations belonging to the Mt. Etna GPS network were occupied on the North-eastern flank of the volcano, in order to follow in detail the spatial and temporal evolution of the ground deformation pattern. From the results of the first measurements, a strong dislocation of the whole Northeastern flank of Mt. Etna was evident, almost uniform on the entire monitored area, with a maximum dislocation of about 60 cm towards ESE. In particular, a rate of about 5 cm/day towards ESE was recorded during the first days of the eruption. About one week after the onset of the eruption, this rate decreased to a still significant value of about 2 cm/day, which continued also after the end of the eruption with a decreasing trend.
- Publication:
-
EGS - AGU - EUG Joint Assembly
- Pub Date:
- April 2003
- Bibcode:
- 2003EAEJA.....5209B