From seismic damage assessment to a risk volcanic scenarios in the area of Mount Etna (Sicily)

Abstract

Mt. Etna is the largest active volcano in Europe and is well known for its continuous and intense volcanic activity. The assessment of risks at Etna is a multidisciplinary matter: the frequent tephra emissions cause problems to aviation and infrastractures, lava-flows destroy man-made features and invade inhabited zones, recurrent earthquakes damage buildings and infrastructure. Unfortunately, these different typologies of threatening events can occur at the same time, as occurred during the 2001 and 2002 eruptions. In this work we evaluate the possible damage level suffered by the residential buildings as a consequence of the interaction between two different hazards, considered independently or as cascading effects. We hypothesise a seismic event similar to the 2018 one (MW 4.9), which follows a sequence of eruptive phenomena including vigorous ash emission and tephra fall deposit on the building roofs of a densely urbanised area.