 am local time. Catania-Fontanarossa Airport shut down operations during the night for safety precautions.[verification needed]
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.
Through January 2011 to February 2012, the summit craters of Etna were the site of intense activity. Frequent eruptions and ash columns forced the authorities to shut down the Catania airport on several occasions.  The July 2011 episode also endangered the Sapienza Refuge, the main tourist hub on the volcano, but the lava flow was successfully diverted. In 2014, a flank eruption started involving lava flows and strombolian eruptions. This was the first flank eruption since 2008-09 
In the 1970s Etna erupted smoke rings, one of the first captured events of this type, which are extremely rare. This happened again in 2000. Video footage of the 8 June 2000 event was captured by a naturalist filmmaker Geoff Mackley., Another event occurred on 11 April 2013.
Etna is one of Sicily's main tourist attractions, with thousands of visitors every year. The most common route is through the road leading to Sapienza Refuge, lying at the south of the crater at elevation of 1910 m. It hosts a large parking, several bars, a hotel, and is a starting point for the cable car. From the Refuge, a cableway runs uphill to the elevation of 2500 m; from there, visitors can take a drive with special terrain vehicles, or take a long walk to the designated crater area at 2920 m. Stage 9 of the 2011 Giro d'Italia finished at the Sapienza Refuge. Alberto Contador initially took the win, however he was later disqualified and the stage win passed onto Jose Rujano.
Ferrovia Circumetnea – Round-Etna railway – is a narrow-gauge railway constructed between 1889 and 1895. It runs around the volcano in a 110-km long semi-circle starting in Catania and ending in Riposto 28 km north of Catania.
- The elevation varies with volcanic activity. The volcano last erupted on the 27th of January 2014 .It is frequently given as 3,350 m (10,990 ft), but many sources that support this concede that it is approximate. The coordinates given, which are consistent with SRTM data, are from a 2005 GPS survey. The elevation data are based on a LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) survey carried out in June 2007, see Neri, M. et al. (2008), "The changing face of Mount Etna's summit area documented with Lidar technology", Geophysical Research Letters 35: L09305, Bibcode:2008GeoRL..3509305N, doi:10.1029/2008GL033740
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