Mt. Etna eastern flank flooding hazard: a first evaluation based on GIS approach

Marina Bisson (1), Claudia Spinetti (2), Marco Neri (3), Paolo Stefanelli (4), Giuseppe Basile (5) & Marinella Panebianco (5)
(1) Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione di Pisa, via Della Faggiola 32, Pisa 56126, Italy. (2) Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, ONT, via di Vigna Murata 605, Roma 00143, Italy. (3) Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Osservatorio Etneo, Sezione di Catania, Piazza Roma 2, Catania 95125, Italy. (4) Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sede di Portovenere, via Pezzino basso 2, Fezzano di Portovenere (SP), 19025, Italy. (5) Dipartimento Regionale della Protezione Civile, Centro Funzionale Decentrato Multirischio Integrato Regione Siciliana, via Abela 5, Palermo 90141, Italy. Corresponding author e-mail: claudia.spinetti@ingv.it

In the two last decades the eastern flank of Mt. Etna volcano was frequently affected by unexpected, violent and dangerous flooding phenomena. The municipalities most strongly involved are Giarre, Riposto and Acireale, where the floods caused heavy damage to the territory and human causalities. In particular, the most remarkable event is dated March 13, 1995 and caused the death of several people, whereas the most recent events occurred in 2014 and 2015 and, fortunately, generated only damages to infrastructures. With the aim to provide a starting point for studying the flooding hazard in the eastern flank of Mt. Etna, we have organized and elaborated on a GIS platform the relevant data from rainfall, topography lithology and land use. The data were combined to produce, for the first time, a run-off predisposition map that can represent a useful base for future studies aimed at flooding hazard mapping along the eastern flank of Mt. Etna volcano.

Flooding Hazard, Map, GIS, Mt. Etna eastern flank.