The Macroseismic Catalogue of Etna Earthquakes (CMTE/Catalogo Macrosismico dei Terremoti Etnei, Azzaro et al., 2000) was compiled by drawing on the exceptionally large database of historical sources which, starting from the 17th century, have continuously documented the succession of seismic and volcanic phenomena at Mt. Etna.
The analysis of this wealth of information - comprising more than 200 'primary' sources, including scientific studies, reports and bulletins - provides a comprehensive and consistent picture of Etna's seismicity over the last four centuries, in greater detail than that available at a national scale from the Italian Parametric Earthquake Catalogue (CPTI).
The frequent seismic activity at Etna is mainly related to earthquake sequences and swarms that characterise different phases of volcanic activity, as well as to the activity of the numerous active faults that cross this heavily urbanized area.
The CMTE (version 2), covering the period 1633-2026, includes 1875 earthquakes, comprising both mainshocks and aftershocks, of which 221 are above the damage threshold. The content of the catalogue is updated dynamically: previously included earthquakes may be revised and new events added as additional macroseismic studies become available. All modifications are recorded in the "Updates" section.
Intensity data are available for all earthquakes according to the European Macroseismic Scale 1998 (EMS-98; Grünthal, 1998). Overall, the macroseismic archive contains 9293 site observations.
Version 2.0 of the CMTE features several improvements. In addition to a redesigned graphic layout, new functions have been implemented, including enhanced data query and consultation tools, dynamic map visualization with pan and zoom capacities, export of seismic history graphs, and greater interactivity of the earthquake-effects data sheets, now displayed together with a dynamic map.
Regarding earthquake parameters, the magnitude of historical earthquakes is now estimated by a new intensity–magnitude relationship (D’Amico et al., 2025), better calibrated on a large instrumental dataset of local magnitude values. Furthermore, earthquake depth classes have been redefined using updated criteria and are now divided into four seismogenic levels (s, d1, d2, d3). This classification contributes to a better estimate of the macroseismic magnitude for historical earthquakes.
Each earthquake in the catalogue is reported with the following parameters: epicentral location and intensity, macroseismic magnitude, depth class and macroseismic data quality index. Whenever possible, the associated seismogenic structure is also indicated based on evidence of surface faulting (Azzaro, 1999; Azzaro, 2004).
From 1970 onwards, when available, instrumental estimates of earthquake depth and magnitude (local or moment) are also reported.
