Analysis of the Effects due to Ash Fallout from Mt. Etna on Industrial Installations

The fallout of ash from Mt Etna has caused significant problems to the resident population, road/rail and air traffic and production activities. This work is focused on the study of the potential damage to industrial structures caused by the fallout of volcanic ash and describes the main objectives of a research project aimed at defining the potentially critical scenarios for industrial installations and infrastructures due to eruptions of Mt. Etna. In the first part of this paper, a description of the method used for the analysis of the potential damage to storage tanks due to ash fallout will be given. The second part will provide the results of the application of the method.