The 1669 eruption is the most destructive eruption of Mount Etna since the Middle Ages. Approximately fourteen villages and towns were destroyed by the lava flows or by earthquakes that preceded and accompanied the eruption. South of the volcano, ash and tephra fallout destroyed large but unclearly stated quantities of olive groves, orchards, pasture, vineyards, and mulberry trees that were used for silkworm rearing. Contemporaneous sources do not mention any fatalities from the eruption or the earthquakes that accompanied it; later reports of 10,000 - 20,000 fatalities appear to be incorrect and apocryphal.