Lateral Eruption 2002/03: Damage of the lava flow fed by the South Vent - Video page

In December 2002 Roberto Carniel and Marco Fulle returned on Etna to follow the development of the big flank eruption. The South Vent has become a giant flank cone, feeding a voluminous lava flow which in those days damaged the buildings near Rifugio Sapienza. The videos in this page (all shot with a digital video camera and compressed in MPEG format) show both the spectacular eruptive activity at the new South Cone and the impressive damages caused by the lava flow in the "Etna Sud" touristic complex. All times are local (GMT + 1hr). As usual, just click on the thumbnails to see the videos.

Lateral Eruption 2002/03: Damage of the lava flow fed by the South Vent - Video page
16 Dec, 2002, 19h. From the road between Corsaro and Sapienza: the explosive vent at 2800m feeds a big lava flow that we can see moving towards Sapienza at 9x acceleratio. 1.1 MB
Lateral Eruption 2002/03: Damage of the lava flow fed by the South Vent - Video page
16 Dec, 19h. 9x acceleration of a huge lava front impending over the cablecar station. Fortunately this front stopped soon after. 230 KB
Lateral Eruption 2002/03: Damage of the lava flow fed by the South Vent - Video page
16 Dec, 19h. This is just a sample of several hours of continuous water lava-cooling at the back of the Tourist Office building. 1.7 MB
Lateral Eruption 2002/03: Damage of the lava flow fed by the South Vent - Video page
16 Dec, 19h. The lava front is about 30 m high and proceeds with a series of impressive incandescent rockfalls. 1.4 MB
Lateral Eruption 2002/03: Damage of the lava flow fed by the South Vent - Video page
16 Dec, 22h. While on the backside the building looks still fine under the water... on the frontside, well... 1 MB
Lateral Eruption 2002/03: Damage of the lava flow fed by the South Vent - Video page
16 Dec, 22h. Bathroom items dominate the scene: first the WC, then the bidet. Hygiene is most important, and we will also use some water afterwards :-( . 1.2 MB
Lateral Eruption 2002/03: Damage of the lava flow fed by the South Vent - Video page
16 Dec, 22h. While everything around collapses, satellite TV antenna still keeps working.. more or less! 870 KB
Lateral Eruption 2002/03: Damage of the lava flow fed by the South Vent - Video page
16 Dec, 22h. Pushed and set to fire by the lava front, the roof collapses. The tree in the foreground celebrates its ephemeral victory. 1.9 MB
Lateral Eruption 2002/03: Damage of the lava flow fed by the South Vent - Video page
16 Dec, 23h. While on the left side window the lava flow is still virtual, on the right side the last collapses give rise to perpetual motion. 1.6 MB
Lateral Eruption 2002/03: Damage of the lava flow fed by the South Vent - Video page
16 Dec, 23h. On the Tourist Office left side the flow evolves from virtual to dramatically real when big lava blocks begin to arrive. 1.5 MB
Lateral Eruption 2002/03: Damage of the lava flow fed by the South Vent - Video page
16 Dec, 23h. Two phreatic explosions in a row. The second one is caught in the movie! After it, a little apocalipse... 2.6 MB
Lateral Eruption 2002/03: Damage of the lava flow fed by the South Vent - Video page
16 and 17 Dec. The most affected from the explosion and the fire is the Esagonal bar. The morning after reveals a desolate landscape. 2.4 MB
Lateral Eruption 2002/03: Damage of the lava flow fed by the South Vent - Video page
17 Dec, 15h. Like a good mother, Etna teaches his youngest son the most poetic volcanic activity: vapour rings. 2.4 MB
Lateral Eruption 2002/03: Damage of the lava flow fed by the South Vent - Video page
17 Dec, 16h. The intense strombolian activity is almost continuous. The video is accelerated 9 times. 2.3 MB
Lateral Eruption 2002/03: Damage of the lava flow fed by the South Vent - Video page
17 Dec, 16h. With the same 9x acceleration, an intense ash-dominated eruptive phase. 1.4 MB
Lateral Eruption 2002/03: Damage of the lava flow fed by the South Vent - Video page
17 Dec, 17h. The smallest bombs are rapidly cooled, showing a fast transition from incandescent red to black. 3x acceleration. 2.1 MB
Video R. Carniel