Sicily’s Mount Etna continues its spectacular explosions as ash rains on towns
- Lava flowed slowly from the southeast crater down an uninhabited side, as it has been doing for the past three weeks
- Locals have taken to covering cars with carpets, blankets and sheets of cardboard to make clean-up easier after each blast
A particularly spectacular blast from Italy’s Mount Etna volcano belched out a towering cloud of ash and lava stone Sunday onto Sicilian villages, the latest in a series of explosions since mid-February.
Italy’s national geophysics and volcanology institute INGV said the powerful explosion at 2am was the 10th such big blast since February 16, when Europe’s most active volcano started giving off an impressive demonstration of nature’s fire power, colouring the night sky in shocking hues of orange and red.
Increasing tremors rattled the mountain throughout much of the night. Ash and small lava stones rained down on eight villages on Etna’s slopes on Sunday morning, while lava flowed slowly from the southeast crater down an uninhabited side, as it has been doing for the past three weeks, the institute said.
The column of ash and lava reached a height of 10,000 metres (33,000 feet) on Sunday, according to scientists who monitor volcanic activity with specialised instruments from an observatory at Etna in eastern Sicily.
Locals swept ash and lava stones from their front steps and balconies. They have taken to covering cars parked outdoors with carpets, blankets and sheets of cardboard to make clean-up easier after each blast. Winds helped carry the ash eastward, INGV said.