Living on Mount Etna Between Risk, Beauty and Need: A Field Survey on Villages Struck by 2018 Earthquake

Abstract

Sicily’s uneven geological structure is positioned within a system of tectonic plates. Its (very) active volcano, Mount Etna, has always made it prone to disasters. Nevertheless on the flanks of Etna there are many urbanized areas and the population living on the slopes of Etna has increased a lot in the last century, because there is an ancient and intimate relationship between the land and the people who live and work on the land. In this chapter I will try to investigate possible changes in the perception of the risks associated with the volcano by the resident population by conducting survey in the villages of Fleri, Pisano, Pennisi and Santa Maria la Stella. This study is part of a growing body of research on changes in the perception of risk in the Etna area.