Mount Etna erupts

On this day in 1669, Mount Etna, on the island of Sicily in modern-day Italy,
begins rumbling. Multiple eruptions over the next few weeks killed more than
20,000 people and left thousands more homeless. Most of the victims could have
saved themselves by fleeing, but stayed, in a vain attempt to save their
city.

Mount Etna dominates the island of Sicily. Rising 11,000 feet above sea level
in the northeast section of Sicily, it can be seen from just about every part of
the 460-square-mile island. The geologic history of Mount Etna demonstrates that
it has been periodically spewing ash and lava for thousands of years; the first
recorded eruption of the volcano was in 475 BCE. It is the most active volcano
in Europe. In 1169, an earthquake just prior to an eruption killed 15,000 people
on Sicily. Despite the dangers of living near an active volcano, the eruptions
made the surrounding soil very fertile, so many small villages developed on the
slopes of the mountain.

When Etna began to rumble and belch gas on March 8, the residents nearby
ignored the warning signs of a larger eruption. Three days later, the volcano
began spewing out noxious fumes in large quantities. Approximately 3,000 people
living on the slopes of the mountain died from asphyxiation. Even worse, Etna
was soon emitting tremendous amounts of ash and molten lava. The ash was sent
out with such force that significant amounts came down in the southern part of
mainland Italy, in some cases nearly 100 miles away. Lava also began pouring
down the south side of the mountain heading toward the city of Catania, 18 miles
to the south along the sea.

At the time, the city of Catania had about 20,000 residents; most failed to
flee the city immediately. Instead, Diego de Pappalardo, a resident of the city,
led a team of 50 men to Mount Etna, where they attempted to divert the lava
flow. Wearing cowhides soaked in water, the men bravely approached the lava with
long iron rods, picks and shovels. They were able to hack open a hole in the
hardened lava wall that had developed on the outside of the lava flow and much
of the flow began to flow west out of the new hole. However, the residents of
Paterno, a city lying southwest of Etna were monitoring these developments and
quickly realized that this new flow direction could imperil their own city. They
literally fought back the Catanians, while the lava breach hardened and filled
again.

For several weeks, the lava pushed toward Catania and the sea. Still, the
residents failed to evacuate the city. Apparently, they remained hopeful that
the lava would stop or the city's ancient defensive walls would protect them.
Neither was the case—the walls were quickly swallowed by the extremely hot lava
and nearly 17,000 people in Catania died. Most of the city was destroyed.
Catania was not the only city affected—the eruption wiped out 14 towns and
villages and left about 27,000 people homeless.

Following this disaster, it was decreed that interference with the natural
flow of lava was prohibited in Italy, a regulation that remained in effect
hundreds of years later.