A particularly spectacular explosion from the Italian volcano Mount Etna spewed an imposing cloud of ash and lava rock on Sunday over Sicilian villages, the latest in a series of explosions since mid-February.
Italy’s national institute of geophysics and volcanology, INGV, said the powerful explosion at 2 am was the tenth big explosion since February 16, when Europe’s most active volcano began to give an impressive demonstration of nature’s firepower , coloring the night sky in shocking shades of orange and red.
Rising tremors shook the mountain for much of the night. Ashes and small lava rocks rained down on eight villages on the slopes of Etna on Sunday morning, while lava flowed from the southeastern crater slowly through an uninhabited side, as has been the case for the past three weeks, the institute said.
The ash and lava column reached a height of 10,000 meters (33,000 feet) on Sunday, according to scientists who monitor volcanic activity with specialized instruments from an observatory on Etna in eastern Sicily.
Locals swept ash and lava stones from their steps and balconies. They began to cover cars parked outdoors with carpets, blankets and sheets of cardboard to facilitate cleaning after each explosion. The winds helped carry the ashes to the east, said INGV.
No serious injuries or injuries were reported after the recent explosions. Geologically active, Etna occasionally becomes particularly loud and explosive as it has been lately.
In the middle of the morning, Etna’s last demonstration of activity decreased somewhat with the end of the lava flow, although the volcano was still emitting “low ash emission” from the southeast crater. A few hours later, the volcanic tremors increased again, INGV said in a statement.
INGV scientists say there is no way of predicting when this current round of particularly robust volcanic activity may subside.