http://www.boston.com/dailynews/210/world/Sicilians_pray_for_safety_from:.shtml

Sicilians pray for safety from Mount Etna eruption; Mass held at base of volcano

By Sheri Jennings, Associated Press, 7/29/2001 15:14

ON MOUNT ETNA (AP) Sicilians living on the slopes of Mount Etna prayed for divine protection from its fury Sunday while an archbishop blessed the volcano in a Mass held at its base.

In Nicolosi, the only town near the molten rivers of lava, worshippers crowded the church of Santa Maria della Grazia for Mass and laid flowers at the shrine of St. Anthony, the town's patron saint.

People in Nicolosi believe St. Anthony protects them from the volcano. His shrine, a statue of the saint perched on a lava rock, lies at the point where the lava stopped during an 1856 eruption.

''Local people still believe in miracles,'' said teacher Gianbattista Martinazoli as he left Mass. ''If human technology can't keep the lava back, the Eternal Father is our only salvation.''

The ''human technology'' took the form of around-the-clock use of bulldozers and other heavy equipment to divert the lava from Nicolosi, population 6,000, and from a tourist base, Rifugio Sapienza, higher up the mountain.

The lava stopped several days ago about 2½ miles from Nicolosi and appeared to have stopped advancing. But the tourist station remained in jeopardy, and efforts to save a ski lift nearby were fruitless.

Nicolosi's priest, the Rev. Bartolomeo Ruggieri, said the danger of living on the slopes of a live volcano, Europe's largest, makes his parishioners strong.

''Being in danger's path makes them wiser,'' he said. ''It makes them reflect on the human condition, about mortality, about the fact they can exist and then not exist.''

All over Sicily, people turned to their faith. A statue of the Madonna stood guard at one shuttered shop at Rifugio Sapienza.

At another Mass at the foot of the mountain Sunday evening, Catania Archbishop Luigi Bonmarito blessed Etna and invoked God's mercy, asking that the eruption be ended.

''The warmer our prayers, the colder the lava,'' he told the crowd gathered at a shrine built in honor a vision of the Virgin Mary.

The lava has been unpredictable, slowing one day, speeding up another.

Emergency crews labored through the night, reinforcing the earthen dams they hope will save the tourist base from lava that had advanced to within a few dozen yards. They were also struggling to save electric pylons used by trains and the Italian utility Enel.

The two main fronts oozing down the slopes appeared to have slowed somewhat over the weekend. But on Sunday, there were reports that a new fissure had opened, stoking the blistering river.

The airport in Catania, closed Saturday because of a rain of black ash, was functioning Sunday. It has been closed twice since the mountain erupted two weeks ago.

Etna, which towers 10,860 feet above Sicily, comes to life every few months. The last major eruption was in 1992.

-- Anonymous, July 30, 2001

Answers

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/212/world/Lava_burns_cable_car_base_ov er:.shtml

Lava burns cable-car base, overflows earth barrier, threatens tourist base on Mount Etna

By Sheri Jennings, Associated Press, 7/31/2001 07:16

ON MOUNT ETNA, Sicily (AP) A stream of lava burned the base of a cable car, overflowed an earth barrier and came dangerously close Tuesday to a tourist complex on the slopes of Mount Etna, Europe's biggest and most active volcano.

The cable car station caught fire overnight, as the river of lava was making its way down toward the tourist station, Rifugio Sapienza. The cable station was about three miles away from the souvenir shacks, wooden stands, restaurants and a hostel that make up the tourist complex.

Emergency crews and army bulldozers worked to reinforce the walls of earth and rock around Rifugio Sapienza and divert the tongues of magma, which last week also destroyed the station's parking lot and three central pylons of Mount Etna's ski lift.

But the flow of lava was advancing. On Tuesday, it was about 165 feet from Rifugio Sapienza, said Salvatore Nunnari of the National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology.

Rifugio Sapienza, which is halfway up the mountain, has been cleared of people.

Nunnari said that the volcano's intense activity was constantly feeding the molten streams of lava, making them bigger and bigger. The one threatening Rifugio Sapienza was, in some points, nearly 500 feet wide.

The area was also still covered with clouds of black volcanic ash, but the airport in Catania, which had been closed for a few hours Monday, was kept open.

Etna has been spewing lava and ash from fractures on its southern slope for about two weeks. Thunderous booms have accompanied the spurts, which have reached hundreds of yards high.

Its activity has been unpredictable. The rivers of lava slow down one day, then suddenly speed up again. On Sunday and Monday, the volcano appeared relatively calm.

No towns are threatened, but the lava has been licking the edge of Rifugio Sapienza for days now. Last week, a convoy of military bulldozers was sent in to reinforce the exhausted crews of workers using backhoes to build earthworks around the station.

Etna's last major eruption was in 1992. The volcano, which towers 10,860 feet above Sicily, comes to life every few months.

On another front, the river of lava threatening the village of Nicolosi, on the slopes of the mountain, appeared to have stopped advancing. It has remained stationary in the past days at about 2½ miles from the village, home to about 6,000 people.

Although no towns have been damaged in the latest eruption, there have been losses in agriculture and tourism. The government has earmarked about $8 million to help the area recover, but locals are pressing for more.

On the Net:

http://www.lasiciliaweb.com/

http://www.videobank.it/etna2001/

http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc images/img etna.html

-- Anonymous, July 31, 2001

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/212/world/Lava_consumes_cable_car_stat io:.shtml

Lava consumes cable car station, overruns barriers, threatens tourist base on Mount Etna

By Sheri Jennings, Associated Press, 7/31/2001 14:33

ON MOUNT ETNA, Sicily (AP) Red-hot lava destroyed a cable car station and surged over man-made barriers, drawing closer to a popular tourist complex halfway up Mount Etna on Tuesday.

A flow of lava nearly 500 feet wide has overrun two walls of earth and rock erected to protect the complex a hostel and a cluster of restaurants and souvenir stands and was about 165 feet away.

Emergency crews and army bulldozers labored to reinforce the last wall still standing and doused the molten lava with water cannon to cool it off, but hopes of stemming the flow were dimming.

''The risk has become very high. The probability of saving the area is lower and lower,'' said Franco Barberi, head of the Civil Protection Agency. He said he was considering giving up the battle and moving his crews farther down the mountain.

Europe's largest and most active volcano has been spewing lava and ash from fractures on its southern slope for about two weeks, constantly feeding a molten flow threatening the Rifugio Sapienza.

The river had swollen to 495 feet wide by Tuesday, said Salvatore Nunnari, of the National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology. The temperature of the lava was between 1,922 degrees and 1,994 degrees, according to vulcanologists.

Rifugio Sapienza is a popular spot, a departing point in calmer times for treks or cable car rides up the mountain, and for skiers. Flaming magma destroyed the parking lot and part of the ski lift last week.

Etna began erupting about two weeks ago on its southern flank. Rains of black ash have closed the airport in Catania, at the foot of the mountain, three times since then.

Ancient residents believed the mountain, which looms 10,860 feet above the Mediterranean island, was the workshop of Vulcan, the god of fire and the forge.

Etna's last major eruption was in 1992, but it rumbles into action every few months, spewing lava, ash and smoke hundreds of yards into the air and roaring so loudly it rattles windows in towns at its base.

Its activity this time has been unpredictable. The rivers of lava slow down one day, then suddenly speed up again, making efforts to stop them more difficult.

The only town near a lava flow, Nicolosi, home to about 6,000 people, appeared safe Tuesday. The flow stopped 2½ miles away several days ago and has remained stationary.

On the Net:

http://www.op.dlr.de/ne-hf/SRL-2/p45738 etna.html

http://www.parks.it/parco.etna/Eindex.html

http://www.geo.mtu.edu/~boris/ETNA.html

http://www.lasiciliaweb.com/

http://www.videobank.it/etna2001/

http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc images/img etna.html

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2001