WHAT danger does an Italian volcano pose for us?
Well, Mount Etna’s massive south face has reportedly shifted an inch and a half in the last eight days – and experts fear that it might be about to tumble into the sea.
If 140 billion tonnes of rock slide into the water, the ‘geological event’ will pose more risks to us than would a full eruption, with molten lava – because it will happen without any warning.
Two university doctors – Morelia Urlaub of Kiel University in Germany, and Julia Crummy of the British Geological Survey, say we should all be concerned – because when Etna collapses, the Mediterranean will be subjected to a colossal tsunami.
Doctor Morelia Urlaub, with Etna in the background
Doctor Morelia Urlaub, with Etna in the background, and Doctor Julia Crummy
Morelia Urlaub says, “It’s called ‘flank collapse’. The side of the mountain breaks away and falls. With Etna, it’s a question of ‘when’, rather than ‘if’”.
The problem, explains Doctor Crummy, is known as ‘subduction’. Very slowly, the African tectonic plate is being forced under the Eurasian plate.
This can cause traditional volcanic eruptions, but it also triggers the more deadly landslides known as flank collapse.
READ MORE: Revealed: The eye-watering prices Spain’s drivers are paying on country’s toll roads in 2026
The African Plate is being forced under the Eurasian Plate
The African Plate is being forced under the Eurasian Plate
A million people live in the fertile belt around Mount Etna, and whether they know it or not, they are in great jeopardy.
Last year, 2025, the volcano erupted three times, albeit through minor, side-vent lava spills. But why is a Sicilian volcano a threat to us, in Andalucia?
Doctor Julia Crummy
“These devastating events have happened in the distant past,” says Doctor Crummy, “and when a slab of rock the size of Manhattan shifts, it displaces billions of gallons of sea water. The only notice we’ll get is a series of side-vent eruptions, and they are already happening.”
Volcanoes often erupt through side-vents, as opposed to the main lava channel
Etna has erupted through side-vents no fewer than 60 times in the last 500 years, and if the big landslides occur 5,000 years apart, we are overdue for another major incident.
The experts think that the tsunami which would result from a mega-collapse would be sure to devastate the entire Eastern Mediterranean. The initial wave could be around 250 metres high and could travel at over 400 kilometres per hour.
By the time it reached Andalucía – which could be as little as six hours – it would, of course, have lost some of its energy, but Etna is only 1,500 miles away and the tsunami would still be capable of causing immense damage.
Volcanoes often erupt through side-vents, as opposed to the main lava channel
Because the Mediterranean is a relatively narrow, shallow sea, a ‘funnel effect’ would intensify the wave.
Andalucía is especially vulnerable, because by far the majority of the population lives at sea level.
The Costa del Sol and the basin of the Guadalquivir River (in other words, the city of Sevilla) would probably be destroyed.
As the map shows, Andalucía’s population density gravitates towards the coast
And believe it or not, the Mediterranean countries do not have any kind of tsunami warning system!
Click here to read more Green News from The Olive Press.
