New video shows the moment when Mount Etna, Europe’s largest active volcano, spewed bubbling lava and hot ash into Sicilian air earlier this week.
On Sunday (January 17), lava from the Etna’s southeastern crater and to the east began to “run out”, according to Boris Behncke, a volcanologist at the INGV Osservatorio Etneo in Catania, Sicily. Express message. By Monday night, the crater had exploded in a ‘new paroxysmal eruption episode’, which released bursts of lava, hot ash and gas, Behncke tweeted.
Italian authorities issue advice following the eruption of the Etna. This video, shot about 14 kilometers from the base of the volcano, shows a large plume of smoke rising as lava shoots into the air. https://t.co/7BhMUkKaJC pic.twitter.com/bqErtZwin919 January 2021
One lava flow flows over the east side of the crater and swings in the direction of the uninhabited Valle del Bove, a hoof-shaped depression on the side of the volcano; A second lava flow was also detected on the north side of the crater, Express reports. The molten lava glowed red against the dark rock and it flooded the volcano’s top with dazzling sparks.
Related: Big explosions: the history of the 10 most destructive volcanoes
Italian authorities issued an ash advice for surrounding cities, and the debris was found as far as Fleri, which lies 28.9 kilometers from the volcano.
Mount Etna has almost continuous volcanic activity near its craters and in the Valle del Bove, Live Science reported earlier. These eruptions near the summit, like those that took place on Monday, rarely endanger people in the area.
Originally published on Live Science.