m the great
crater, and loud noises resembling the discharge of artillery, were
heard. A violent earthquake followed, and Catania was shaken to the
ground, burying 18,000 of its inhabitants. It is said that in all
fifty cities and towns were destroyed in Sicily, together with
approximately 100,000 inhabitants.

The following year witnessed another eruption, but no serious disaster
resulted. In March, 1702, three mouths opened in the Contrada del
Trifaglietto, near the head of the Val del Bue. In 1723, 1732, 1735,
1744, and 1747, slight eruptions occurred. Early in the year 1775 AEtna
began to show signs of disturbance; a great column of black smoke
issued from the crater, from which forked lightning was frequently
emitted. Loud detonations were heard and two streams of lava issued
from the crater. A new mouth opened near Rocca di Musarra in the Val
del Bue, four miles from the summit, and a quantity of lava was
ejected from it. An extraordinary flood of water descended from Val
del Bue, carrying all before it, and strewing its path with large
blocks. Recupero estimated the volume of water at 16,000,000 cubic
feet, probably a greater amount than could be furnished by the sudden
melting of all the winter's snow on the mountain. It formed a channel
two miles broad, and in some places thirty-four feet deep, and it
flowed at the rate of a mile in a minute and a half during the first
twelve miles of its course. The flood was probably produced by the
melting not only of the winter's snow, but also of older layers of
ice, which were suddenly liquified by the permeation of hot steam and
lava, and which had been previously preserved from melting by a
deposit of sand and ashes, as in the case of the ancient glacier found
near the summit of the mountain in 1828.

In November, 1758, a smart shock of earthquake caused the cone of the
great crater to fall in, but no eruption followed. In 1759, 1763,
1766, and 1780, eruptions were noted, and on May 18, 1780, a fissure
opened on the southwest side of the mountain and extended from the
base of the great crater for seven miles, terminating in a new mouth
from which a stream of lava emanated. This encountered the cone of
Palmintelli in its course, and separated into two branches, each of
which was about 4,000 feet wide. Other mouths opened later in the
year, and emitted larger quantities of lava, while in 1781 and 1787
there were slight eruptions. Five years later a fresh outbreak
occur