The 1669 Mt. Etna Eruption: Scientific and Social Reactions
by
Nicoletta Morello
Università di Genova

In 1669 Mt. Etna erupted continuously for three months and affected a large territorial area, including Catania and several of the surrounding villages: moreover the lava flow also reached the sea. It was one of the greatest eruptions from Etna ever recorded until that time and was of great interest to both the scientists and the people living in the area, obviously for different reasons.

The scientists of the time studied the eruption, in particular the Neapolitan scholar Giovanni Alfonso Borelli who described the event in the "Historia et meteorologia incendi aetnaei", published in Reggio Calabria in 1670. This was a result of the effects of the so called "scientific revolution" taking place in the second half of the 17th century which included also the study of natural phenomena.

The local communities affected by the eruption were highly concerned due to the dimension and the seriousness of the phenomenon itself.

This paper will present and analyse some of the various reactions to such a catastrophic event.

Date received: July 22, 2005

Copyright © 2005 by the author(s). The author(s) of this document and the organizers of the conference have granted their consent to include this abstract in Atlas Conferences Inc. Document # caqy-58.