New video shows the moment when Mount Etna, Europe’s largest active volcano, spewed bubbling lava and hot ash into Sicily’s sky earlier this week.
On Sunday (January 17), lava began to “leak” from the crater southeast of Etna and towards the east, according to Boris Behncke, volcanologist at INGV-Osservatorio Etneo in Catania, Sicily, Express reported. On Monday night, the crater exploded in a “new paroxysmal eruptive episode”, releasing explosions of lava, hot ashes and gas, Behncke tweeted.
The Italian authorities issue warnings about ashes after the eruption of Mount Etna. This video filmed about 22.5 km from the base of the volcano shows a huge cloud of smoke rising as the lava shoots towards the sky. https://t.co/7BhMUkKaJC pic.twitter.com/bqErtZwin9January 19, 2021
A lava flow overflowed from the east side of the crater, meandering towards the uninhabited Valle del Bove, a horseshoe-shaped depression on the side of the volcano; a second lava flow was also detected on the north side of the crater, Express said. The molten lava glowed red against the dark rock and bathed the top of the volcano with spectacular sparks.
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Italian authorities issued an ash alert for neighboring cities, and the wreckage was found as far as Fleri, which is 18 miles (28.9 kilometers) from the volcano.
Mount Etna has almost continuous volcanic activity near its craters at the top and in the Bove Valley, Live Science previously reported. Such eruptions near the summit, like the one that occurred on Monday, rarely endanger people living nearby.
Originally published on Live Science.