Mount Etna Eruption August 2026: What Happened

Mount Etna’s August 2026 Eruption: Nine Vents and a Volcano in Constant Motion

What Happened During Etna’s August 2026 Eruption?

The easiest answer is that several things happened almost at the same time.

There was explosive activity at the summit.

There were lava fountains.

Lava repeatedly poured from the Voragine into the neighbouring Northeast Crater.

New fractures opened on the eastern side of the summit area.

Several additional vents appeared progressively lower down the mountain.

Lava entered the Valle del Leone and then the much larger Valle del Bove.

There were also ash clouds, small pyroclastic flows, earthquakes and significant disruption to air traffic.

In other words, Etna spent much of August demonstrating why describing an eruption with one photograph can be slightly misleading.

The volcano was not performing one single action from one single crater. It was behaving as a large and dynamic volcanic system.

Etna Was Already Very Active Before August

The eruption did not come after months of silence.

Etna had already entered a particularly active phase during June and July 2026.

Small ash emissions appeared at Voragine on 10 June. Strombolian explosions increased from the middle of the month, and fractures developed on the eastern side of the crater.

On 26 June, lava began emerging from a vent at approximately 3,030 metres.

A first major eruptive episode followed between 5 and 7 July.

Then came the eruption of 30 July to 2 August, when Voragine produced strong explosive activity, ash columns reaching approximately 7 kilometres above sea level and a new lava flow from a vent at around 2,700 metres.

Only a few days later, Etna started again.

This is important because the eruption beginning on 6 August should not really be viewed in isolation. It was another chapter in a volcanic sequence that had already been evolving for weeks.

6 August: Voragine Starts Again

During the morning of 6 August, Strombolian activity resumed at Voragine.

Strombolian activity consists of repeated explosions that throw incandescent fragments of lava above a vent. It can range from relatively modest bursts to much more energetic activity.

In this case, the explosions intensified during the evening and evolved into lava fountains.

At the same time, lava once again flowed from Voragine towards the Northeast Crater.

This had already happened during previous episodes in 2026: lava emitted from the summit area entered the neighbouring crater and disappeared inside its open structure.

But the situation was about to become considerably more complicated.

New Eruptive Vents Begin Opening

During the night between 6 and 7 August and the following morning, three new effusive vents opened.

The first appeared shortly after midnight in the saddle between Voragine and the Northeast Crater.

A second opened at approximately 3,200 metres on the eastern flank of Voragine.

A third appeared much lower, at around 2,750 metres, on the wall of the Valle del Leone.

This third vent immediately became particularly important.

Lava descended rapidly through the Valle del Leone, reached the area around Monte Simone within a few hours and continued across the flatter floor of the valley.

Instead of being concentrated around the summit, the eruption was now developing vertically down the eastern side of Etna.

Etna had begun the month with activity at more than 3,000 metres. Within days, the most interesting question was becoming: where will the next vent open?

Lava Descends into the Valle del Bove

The Valle del Bove is the enormous horseshoe-shaped depression that dominates Etna’s eastern flank.

It is several kilometres wide and represents one of the most distinctive landscapes of the volcano.

Many Etna lava flows are naturally channelled into this huge uninhabited depression, which acts as an extraordinary open-air archive of past eruptions.

During the August eruption, lava descending through the Valle del Leone entered the upper Valle del Bove and progressively developed into an increasingly complex field of overlapping flows.

From viewpoints on the eastern side of the volcano, glowing lava could be seen descending across the dark valley after sunset.

But what made this episode unusual was that the lava was not being supplied by just one vent.

New openings continued to appear.

8 August: A Vent Opens Near Monte Rittmann

At approximately 11:30 on 8 August, another eruptive vent opened near Monte Rittmann, a cone formed during the 1986–1987 eruption.

The new opening was located at roughly 2,360 metres above sea level.

This time, however, something different happened.

The vent opened on a steep and unstable slope.

Part of the cone collapsed while fresh lava was emerging. The collapsing material mixed with the new volcanic material and generated a series of small pyroclastic flows.

INGV scientists observed the phenomenon directly from the field and with drones.

The event produced dramatic images, but understanding exactly what happened is important.

Were Those Really Pyroclastic Flows?

Yes, but the term needs some context.

“Pyroclastic flow” often brings to mind enormous, devastating clouds racing down volcanoes during major explosive eruptions.

That was not what happened here.

According to INGV’s reconstruction, the flows near Monte Rittmann were relatively small and were generated when part of the unstable slope collapsed as the new vent opened.

The falling material mixed with hot volcanic material and travelled downslope.

Lava Starts Emerging Much Lower on the Volcano

The eruption continued to evolve.

At around 23:30 on 10 August, a new effusive vent opened at approximately 1,900 metres.

At around 11:30 the following day, 11 August, another opened at approximately 2,090 metres.

These openings were particularly significant because magma was now reaching the surface far below the summit craters.

The resulting flows added fresh lava to the already complex field in the Valle del Bove.

During this period, explosive activity at Voragine also continued with fluctuations, producing abundant volcanic ash and maintaining a flow of lava towards the Northeast Crater.

So while lava was being emitted from vents below 2,000 metres, the summit was still active more than a vertical kilometre higher.

Etna was effectively operating on several floors at once.

How Far Did the Lava Travel?

By 13 August, the most advanced lava fronts had descended to approximately 1,340 metres above sea level.

They moved around the rocky ridge of Rocca Capra in the Valle del Bove, burning and covering areas of broom and pine vegetation.

The eruption therefore produced real environmental changes inside the valley.

However, the location is important.

The active fronts remained inside the Valle del Bove, a large uninhabited volcanic depression on Etna’s eastern side.

They were spectacularly low compared with summit activity, but they were not flowing through towns, villages or urban areas.

During the following days, activity at several of the higher vents began to decrease.

The 2,360-metre vent stopped producing lava on 12 August, and the approximately 2,700-metre vent ceased during the evening of 13 August.

For a moment, the eruption appeared to be winding down.

15 August: The Eruption Appears to Slow Down

On the morning of 15 August, explosive activity at Voragine stopped.

Ash emissions were instead observed from the Northeast Crater.

Effusive activity from the remaining vents had also decreased considerably.

Anyone hoping that Etna had finally completed its August programme could have been forgiven for thinking the episode was ending.

The volcano had other plans.

The Piano Pernicana Earthquake

During the same phase, a sequence of extremely shallow earthquakes occurred around Piano Pernicana on the northern side of Etna.

The strongest event had a local magnitude of ML 3.9 and was followed by ten smaller earthquakes.

The earthquakes occurred along the Pernicana Fault.

This is an important geological structure because it marks the northern boundary of a sector of Etna’s flank that is slowly moving towards the Ionian Sea.

It is tempting whenever an earthquake occurs during an eruption to assume that one directly caused the other.

Volcanoes are rarely that cooperative.

Etna’s seismic activity reflects a complex combination of magma movement, gravitational deformation and motion along faults. Individual earthquake sequences therefore need to be interpreted using the complete monitoring data rather than the calendar alone.

16 August: Etna Starts Again

During the afternoon of 16 August, INGV recorded a rapid increase in volcanic tremor.

Volcanic tremor is a continuous seismic vibration associated with processes such as magma and gas moving through the volcanic system.

The increase accompanied a renewed phase of explosive activity at Voragine.

A new ash cloud moved towards the southeast, while lava once again flowed from Voragine towards the Northeast Crater.

At the same time, lava output from the vent at approximately 1,900 metres increased again.

During the night, a broad lava front advanced farther into the lower Valle del Bove.

By 19 August, this front had reached approximately 1,315 metres above sea level, slightly lower than the fronts observed several days earlier.

A New Pit Crater Appears

On the morning of 17 August, the vent near Monte Rittmann at approximately 2,360 metres briefly reactivated.

It again produced local collapses, small pyroclastic flows and a modest lava flow before stopping after a few hours.

But another change was observed higher on the volcano.

A new pit crater had opened at approximately 3,000 metres on the northeastern flank of the Northeast Crater.

A pit crater is essentially a steep-sided depression produced by collapse into an underground void or conduit.

It is not necessarily formed by a large explosive event.

Its appearance was another visible sign that the summit area itself was being modified during the eruption.

Then, during the first hours of 18 August, a new effusive vent opened at around 3,100 metres on the northeastern side of the Northeast Crater.

It produced a small lava flow that lasted only a few hours.

From vents below 2,000 metres to a fresh opening above 3,000 metres, the eruption had covered an extraordinary vertical range.

How Did the Eruption End?

Explosive activity at Voragine continued until the night between 17 and 18 August and then stopped.

Effusive activity gradually decreased.

On 21 August, lava emission from the vent at approximately 1,900 metres ceased and the active lava fronts stopped advancing.

By 22 August, INGV reported no new eruptive activity apart from intermittent modest ash emissions from Bocca Nuova and the Northeast Crater.

The update issued on 23 August went a step further.

INGV reported that all lava flows were cold and that the 1,900-metre vent was no longer active.

Only sporadic, weak ash emissions remained, dispersing rapidly around the summit.

The eruption had not ended with one dramatic final explosion.

It had gradually run out of energy across a complicated network of vents.

Why Are Nine Eruptive Vents Important?

INGV identified at least nine vents that emitted lava during the recent eruptive period on Etna’s upper eastern sector.

That number is one of the most interesting facts about the eruption.

A volcano is not simply a mountain with one hole at the top.

Magma rises through a complicated three-dimensional system of fractures, conduits and zones of weakness.

If pressure and geological conditions allow it, magma can exploit fractures away from the principal summit crater and emerge elsewhere.

On Etna this can produce flank eruptions, where lava appears from fissures hundreds or even thousands of metres below the summit.

The August 2026 eruption provided an unusually clear demonstration of this behaviour.

The focus of activity repeatedly shifted, with vents opening from the summit area to the Valle del Leone and much lower Valle del Bove.

How Much Lava Was Erupted?

Using field observations and satellite data, INGV estimated that between 7 and 17 August the eruption produced approximately 5.6 to 7.6 million cubic metres of lava.

And even that number does not represent everything.

It does not include the additional volume of lava that poured directly from Voragine into the Northeast Crater, which could not be reliably calculated.

For a non-scientist, millions of cubic metres are difficult to visualise.

The important point is not the exact number of swimming pools, football pitches or other objects traditionally sacrificed in the name of explaining volume.

What matters is that a substantial amount of magma reached the surface in only a few days and was distributed through a complicated network of separate lava flows.

Why Did the Eruption Affect Catania Airport?

For most people living far from the volcano, lava is the most obvious symbol of an eruption.

For aviation, ash is often the bigger problem.

Volcanic ash consists of tiny fragments of rock, minerals and volcanic glass.

Aircraft engines and other components can be damaged if an aircraft encounters a sufficiently concentrated volcanic ash cloud.

During the August eruption, Voragine repeatedly produced significant ash emissions.

Wind frequently carried the ash towards the southern sector of Etna, directly affecting the airspace used by Catania Airport.

On 7 August, for example, temporary restrictions were imposed on arriving flights.

As activity continued, the situation became more disruptive.

ENAC reported on 14 August that the persistent eruption and predominantly southerly winds had caused major operational restrictions affecting Catania and also had consequences for Comiso and Palermo as flights were cancelled or redirected.

Safety decisions were coordinated between ENAC, ENAV, INGV, the Italian Air Force and the airport operator SAC.

On 18 August, after the aviation alert changed from Red to Orange, the previously closed sectors were reopened and normal arrival and departure operations at Catania were restored.

This is an important reminder that the impact of an Etna eruption depends not only on how much ash is produced but also on where the wind carries it.

Did the Lava Threaten Towns?

No inhabited town was reached by the August lava flows.

The lowest active fronts described by INGV remained inside the Valle del Bove at approximately 1,315 metres above sea level.

This does not mean that the eruption was harmless.

Vegetation was burned and buried, areas of the volcano became unsafe, ash affected communities and aviation, and the opening of new vents demonstrated how rapidly conditions could change.

But there is an important difference between an eruption that is dangerous in its immediate volcanic environment and one in which lava is approaching inhabited centres.

Confusing the two creates unnecessary alarm.

Etna is enormous, and an eruption occurring somewhere on the volcano does not automatically mean that villages on its slopes are being evacuated or that the entire mountain is inaccessible.

What Is Etna Doing Now?

Updated 24 August 2026: the main eruptive phase described in this article has stopped.

In its 23 August update, INGV reported that all lava flows were cold and that the vent at approximately 1,900 metres was no longer active.

Sporadic weak ash emissions were still occurring from the summit area but were dispersing rapidly.

Volcanic tremor was fluctuating within a medium level, with its source located near the Northeast Crater at approximately 2,000–2,500 metres above sea level.

Infrasound activity remained low, and the GNSS and tilt-monitoring networks showed no new significant variations.

Satellite monitoring published on 24 August classified thermal activity during the previous week as moderate, although cloud and poor weather had sometimes limited observations.

Most importantly, “the eruption has stopped” should never be translated as “Etna has become inactive”.

Etna remains one of the world’s most active volcanoes.

What Does the Yellow Aviation Code Mean?

On 24 August, INGV issued a VONA—Volcano Observatory Notice for Aviation—with the aviation colour code at YELLOW.

This does not mean that aircraft are flying through a dangerous ash cloud.

The international aviation colour-code system uses four principal levels:

• Green: normal non-eruptive conditions;
• Yellow: elevated unrest, or activity that has decreased significantly after a more active phase but still requires close monitoring;
• Orange: heightened unrest or an eruption with no or minor ash emissions;
• Red: an eruption with significant ash emission is imminent or underway.

In the present context, Yellow reflects the substantial decrease from the much more intense activity experienced earlier in August.

It is an aviation communication tool, not a tourism traffic light for the entire volcano.

Can You Visit Mount Etna After an Eruption?

This is probably the question most visitors actually want answered.

An eruption does not automatically close all of Mount Etna.

The volcano covers an enormous area, and conditions can be completely different between the summit, the Valle del Bove, the northern slopes, the southern tourist area and lower-altitude trails.

What matters is the exact location of the activity and the restrictions in force at that moment.

During periods of increased volcanic activity, summit routes may be limited or closed while other areas at lower altitude remain available.

Weather, ash, snow, road conditions and civil-protection measures can also change the practical itinerary.

This is one reason why a private Etna excursion should never be treated as a fixed sequence of stops that must happen regardless of conditions.

The mountain decides what is possible.

A good guide decides how to make the best experience from those possibilities.

What Happens Next?

No one can give a reliable date for Etna’s next eruption.

Scientists can monitor what the volcano is doing now and identify changes in its behaviour, but predicting the precise day, location and size of a future eruption remains impossible.

INGV continuously follows Etna using seismic networks, infrasound, GNSS stations, ground deformation measurements, cameras, satellites, gas observations and field surveys.

The August eruption has left scientists with a particularly interesting volcanic landscape to study.

New vents opened.

New lava fields were created.

A new pit crater appeared.

The summit changed again.

And millions of cubic metres of lava were added to a volcano that is permanently rebuilding itself.

For people who live around Etna, this constant transformation is not unusual.

What was unusual in August 2026 was the speed and complexity of the changes.

Within less than three weeks, activity shifted between summit explosions, lava fountains, ash clouds, lava entering another crater, vents above 3,000 metres, vents below 2,000 metres and lava advancing through the Valle del Bove.

Etna did not produce one simple eruption.

It produced an entire volcanic story.

On Etna, the landscape is never really finished. August 2026 simply allowed us to watch some of the editing happen in real time.

Discover a Volcano That Never Stands Still

Explore Mount Etna with a private guide and discover lava fields, craters, forests and volcanic landscapes shaped by eruptions both ancient and extremely recent. Every itinerary is adapted to current weather, volcanic conditions and official access restrictions.

Discover Etna Unlimited Tours