On June 26, 2026, a new fracture was discovered on Voragine Crater. Voragine Crater is one of the four main summit craters of Mount Etna in Sicily, Italy. The fracture opened along the upper eastern area of the crater at an altitude of 3,030 meters. Magma immediately began to ooze out of the lower end of the fracture and safely into Valle del Leone. This gentle magma flow continued until July 4th when the steady magma flow came to a halt. Subsequently, on July 5th the trapped pressure blew-causing a massive ash explosion that put a standstill to air travel.
To understand the explosion, you can reference a bottle of soda. The soda is shaken so the carbon dioxide is already pressurized, and the fracture was the cap slightly opened. The soda would be able to safely and slowly exit the bottle. However, when the “magma” dried and sealed the cap, the pressure continued to build and then “exploded” the cap off.
This all makes sense, but what caused the pressure or rather, who shook the bottle? Scientists discovered that a fresh supply of liquid hot magma was rising from the Earth’s mantle to the Mount Etna. This caused volcanic gases to pressure the volcano. The left-over supply of magma will ultimately ooze itself dry.