# Etna: 3,324, 3,350 or 3,369 meters, by source

> INGV publishes 3,324 m, Civil Protection 3,350 m and a 2024 drone survey 3,369 m. All three are official, and the mountain changes with every eruption.

URL: https://myitalia.it/nature/etna
Last updated: 2026-09-02

Three official heights exist for Etna and all three are current: 3,324 m on the INGV factsheet, 3,350 m on the Civil Protection factsheet, and 3,369 m from an INGV drone survey of July 2024.

## Three numbers, three institutions, one mountain

The INGV factsheet publishes 3,324 m above sea level. The Civil Protection Department factsheet publishes 3,350 m. The INGV drone survey of July 2024 measured 3,369 m on the eastern rim of the Voragine crater.

None of them is an error. Factsheets are revised on an institutional calendar; surveys are flown after eruptive phases. The gap between them is the gap between a reference document and a measurement.

The practical rule that follows is simple and almost nobody applies it: any height quoted for Etna needs a year and a source attached, or it means nothing. There is more on how the three figures came apart at [nobody agrees how tall Etna is](/stories/nobody-agrees-how-tall-etna-is).

## 3,369 m is the highest ever measured

The 3,369 m recorded on July 7, 2024 by the drone and cartography laboratory of the INGV Osservatorio Etneo, on the eastern rim of the Voragine, is the greatest height ever measured on the volcano.

It followed a sequence: 3,347 m on the South East Crater on August 10, 2021, then 3,354 m on the same crater on December 1, 2023, then the Voragine taking the record after the paroxysms of July 2024.

We have found no INGV survey more recent than that. The number should be rechecked at least once a year, because on this mountain the summit elevation is a measurement with a shelf life.

## Yellow alert, open conduit, four summit craters

Etna is at yellow alert and it is the largest volcano in Europe, with a base diameter of around 35 km, a surface of around 1,250 square kilometers and 4 summit craters: Bocca Nuova, Voragine, the North East Crater and the South East Crater.

INGV describes three types of activity here: persistent degassing from the summit craters, terminal and subterminal eruptions, and lateral or eccentric eruptions from the flanks. Around a million people live on its slopes and eruptive activity began around 500,000 years ago.

Etna and Stromboli are the two Italian volcanoes with an open conduit and persistent activity. Frequent eruption is precisely why their short term hazard is rated lower than that of a volcano that has been closed for centuries. The eastern flank is also in continuous deformation eastwards, at rates above 2 to 4 cm a year.

## What the UNESCO listing covers

Mount Etna has been on the World Heritage list since 2013 under natural criterion viii, and the property is the uninhabited summit portion of the volcano: 19,237 hectares of core zone with a 26,220 hectare buffer.

The listing rests on the record rather than the view. Eruptive activity here is documented over at least 2,700 years, one of the longest historical series anywhere in the world.

That boundary explains something visitors often find odd. The vineyards, the pistachio terraces and the towns on the lower slopes are outside the listed area, which starts where people stop living.

## Getting up: 1,920 to 2,500 by cable car

The Etna cable car, the only one on the volcano, runs from Rifugio Sapienza on the south side above Nicolosi at 1,920 meters up to 2,500 meters. From there the Tour 3000 continues by 4x4 bus, or by snowcat above 2,500 m in winter, to around 2,800 meters, then on foot with a volcanological guide to 3,000 meters.

The operator does not publish prices or timetables on any reachable page: the ticketing links redirect to a booking engine. This page therefore carries no fare, and a price quoted elsewhere is not verified.

What the quoted altitudes tell you is the shape of the day. You buy height in three stages, each with a different operator and a different constraint, and the last stage is guided by law rather than by preference. See [Catania](/towns/catania) and [volcanoes in Italy](/themes/volcanoes).

## FAQ

### How tall is Mount Etna?

It depends which official source you read. The INGV factsheet gives 3,324 m, the Civil Protection Department factsheet 3,350 m, and an INGV drone survey of July 2024 measured 3,369 m on the rim of the Voragine crater. Always cite a height with its year and source.

### Why do sources disagree about the height of Etna?

Because the summit is rebuilt by every eruptive phase and the factsheets are updated less often than the surveys. The 3,369 m of July 7, 2024 is the highest ever measured on the volcano, after 3,354 m in December 2023 and 3,347 m in August 2021, both on the South East Crater.

### Is Etna erupting right now?

Etna sits at yellow alert. It is an open conduit volcano with persistent activity, which means frequent eruptions and, for that reason, a reduced short term hazard. It has 4 summit craters: Bocca Nuova, Voragine, North East Crater and South East Crater.

### How high can you get on Etna without a guide?

The cable car from Rifugio Sapienza takes you from 1,920 m to 2,500 m. Above that the Tour 3000 continues by 4x4 bus to around 2,800 m and then on foot with a volcanological guide to 3,000 m. The summit craters are not a self guided walk.

### Is Mount Etna a UNESCO site?

Yes, inscribed in 2013 under natural criterion viii. The property covers the uninhabited summit portion of the volcano, 19,237 hectares, with a buffer zone of 26,220 hectares. Its eruptive activity is documented over at least 2,700 years.

## Sources

| Fact | Source | Confidence | Valid until |
|---|---|---|---|
| Le quote di riferimento dell'Etna pubblicate dalle fonti istituzionali non coincidono: la scheda INGV riporta 3.324 m s.l.m., la scheda del Dipartimento della Protezione Civile 3.350 m, mentre il rilievo con droni INGV del luglio 2024 ha misurato 3.369 m sull'orlo della Voragine. | [INGV](https://www.ingv.it/etna); [Dipartimento della Protezione Civile](https://rischi.protezionecivile.gov.it/it/vulcanico/vulcani-italia/etna/); [INGV - blog INGVvulcani](https://ingvvulcani.com/2024/07/10/la-voragine-fa-la-voce-grossa-e-diventa-la-nuova-vetta-delletna/) | high | 2027-06-30 |
| La quota massima dell'Etna misurata dall'INGV e' 3.369 metri, raggiunta dall'orlo orientale del cratere Voragine dopo i parossismi del luglio 2024: e' la massima altezza mai misurata sul vulcano. | [INGV - blog INGVvulcani](https://ingvvulcani.com/2024/07/10/la-voragine-fa-la-voce-grossa-e-diventa-la-nuova-vetta-delletna/) | medium | 2027-06-30 |
| L'Etna e' in livello di allerta giallo; e' il piu' grande vulcano d'Europa, con un diametro di base di circa 35 km, una superficie di circa 1.250 km quadrati e quattro crateri sommitali (Bocca Nuova, Voragine, Cratere di Nord-Est, Cratere di Sud-Est). | [Dipartimento della Protezione Civile](https://rischi.protezionecivile.gov.it/it/vulcanico/vulcani-italia/etna/); [INGV](https://www.ingv.it/etna) | medium | 2026-12-31 |
| Secondo INGV l'Etna presenta tre tipologie di attivita' - degassamento persistente dai crateri sommitali, eruzioni terminali/subterminali e eruzioni laterali o eccentriche dai fianchi - e circa un milione di persone vive sulle sue pendici. | [INGV](https://www.ingv.it/etna) | medium | 2029-12-31 |
| Il Monte Etna e' iscritto nella Lista del Patrimonio Mondiale dal 2013 con il criterio naturale viii; il sito coincide con la porzione sommitale disabitata del vulcano e misura 19.237 ettari, con una zona tampone di 26.220 ettari. L'attivita' eruttiva dell'Etna e' documentata da almeno 2.700 anni, una delle serie storiche piu' lunghe al mondo. | [Ministero della Cultura - Ufficio UNESCO](https://unesco.cultura.gov.it/projects/monte-etna/) | medium | 2099-12-31 |
| La funivia dell'Etna, unica sul vulcano, parte dal Rifugio Sapienza sul versante sud a 1.920 metri e arriva a 2.500 metri; da li' il Tour 3000 prosegue con bus 4x4 (gatti delle nevi in inverno) fino a circa 2.800 metri e poi a piedi con guida vulcanologica fino a quota 3.000 (2026). | [Funivia dell'Etna (SITAS)](https://www.funiviaetna.com/); [doc 2](https://www.funiviaetna.com/it/tour-3000/) | medium | 2027-06-30 |

## Image

https://media.myitalia.it/media/nature.etna.v2.1600.jpg
Author: The Cosmonaut. License: CC BY-SA 2.5 ca (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/ca/deed.en).
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Etna_Southeast_Crater_eruption_2022-05-17.jpg

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