<P> Following six years (1995--2001) of unusually intense activity at the four summit craters of Etna, the volcano produced its first flank eruption since 1991--1993 in July--August 2001 . This eruption, which involved activity from seven distinct eruptive fissures mostly on the south slope of the volcano, was a mass - media eruption, because it occurred at the height of the tourist season and numerous reporters and journalists were already in Italy to cover the G8 summit in Genoa . It also occurred close to one of the tourist areas on the volcano, and thus was easily accessible . Part of the "Etna Sud" tourist area, including the arrival station of the Etna cable car, were damaged by this eruption, which otherwise was a rather modest - sized event by Etna standards . </P> <P> In 2002--2003, a much larger eruption threw up a huge column of ash that could easily be seen from space and fell as far away as Libya, 600 km (370 mi) south across the Mediterranean Sea . Seismic activity in this eruption caused the eastern flanks of the volcano to slip by up to two metres, and many houses on the flanks of the volcano experienced structural damage . The eruption also completely destroyed the tourist station Piano Provenzana, on the northeastern flank of the volcano, and part of the tourist station "Etna Sud" around the Rifugio Sapienza on the south flank . Footage from the eruptions was recorded by Lucasfilm and integrated into the landscape of the planet Mustafar in the 2005 film Star Wars: Episode III--Revenge of the Sith . The Rifugio Sapienza is near the site of a cable car station which had previously been destroyed in the 1983 eruption; it has now been rebuilt . Following a rather silent, slow and non-destructive lava outflow on the upper southeastern flank between September 2004 and March 2005, intense eruptions occurred at the Southeast Crater in July--December 2006 . These were followed by four episodes of lava fountaining, again at the Southeast Crater, on 29 March 11 April, 29 April and 7 May 2007 . Ash emissions and Strombolian explosions started from a vent on the eastern side of the Southeast Crater in mid-August 2007 . </P> <P> On 4 September 2007 a spectacular episode of lava fountaining occurred from the new vent on the east side of the Southeast Crater, also producing a plume of ash and scoriae which fell over the east flank of the volcano . A lava flow travelled about 4.5 km (2.8 mi) into the uninhabited Valle del Bove . This eruption was visible far into the plains of Sicily, ending the following morning between the hours of 5 to 7 a.m. local time . Catania - Fontanarossa Airport shut down operations during the night for safety precautions . </P> <P> An eruption on the morning of 13 May 2008, immediately to the east of Etna's summit craters was accompanied by a swarm of more than 200 earthquakes and significant ground deformation in the summit area . The eruption continued at a slowly diminishing rate for 417 days, until 6 July 2009, making this the longest flank eruption of Etna since the 1991--1993 eruption that lasted 473 days . Previous eruptions, in 2001, 2002--2003, and 2004--2005 had lasted 3 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months, respectively . Lava flows advanced 6.5 km during the first few days of this eruption but thereafter stagnated at much minor distances from the vents; during the last months of the eruption lava rarely advanced more than 1 km downslope . </P>

What is mount etna's most famous eruption