Catania was not the only city affected—the eruption wiped out 14 towns and villages and left about 27,000 people homeless. Following this disaster, it was decreed that interference with the natural flow of lava was prohibited in Italy, a regulation that remained in effect hundreds of years later.

What damage did Mt Etna cause?

The eruption has caused $3.1 million in damage, including losses in tourism and agriculture, the local government said. Mount Etna, towering above Catania, Sicily's second largest city, has one of the world's longest documented records of historical volcanism.

How does Mount Etna affect the people that live near it?

At nearly 11,000 feet, Mount Etna in eastern Sicily is one of the world's most active volcanoes. And while the peak erupts at a slow enough rate for people to escape a lava burial, the gentle giant could put people at an increased risk of a different hazard—the development of thyroid cancer.