On Monday, authorities warned people to avoid Europe's largest active volcano, when large amounts of ash, gas and rock emerged from Italy's Mount Etna on Monday.
Mount Etna in Sicily has been active lately, but Monday’s outbreak is the most striking, with experts warning that the activity could last for weeks.
According to data from the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanoology (INGV), images show that huge ash clouds of volcanoes in Sicily start at 11:24 a.m. local time (0924 GMT).
The agency said the surveillance camera showed “the possible pyroclastic flow of possible pyroclastic flow from the collapse of the material on the north side of the southeast crater.”
The volcanic debris flow is very dangerous when volcanic rocks, ash and hot gases surge from the volcano.
Ingv said the explosive activity “has transitioned to a lava fountain”, describing the jets that were ejected into the air.
By afternoon, the plume began to dissipate.
INGV's initial red alert (estimated volcanic clouds at an estimated height of 6.5 kilometers (more than four miles)) was downgraded to orange and then yellow.
Catania Airport near Sicily is still open on Monday.
By mid-afternoon, Ingv said the eruption had stopped and “no gray clouds were generated.”
Sicily Regional President Renato Schifani said experts assured him that he was “no danger to the population” and that the movement did not pass through the Lion Valley, an area where tourists often appear.
Videos posted on social media seem to show tourists eager to the side of the volcano, with some taking pictures, but AFP is unable to determine their authenticity.
“The partial collapse of the southeast crater created an impressive eruption cloud, up to several kilometers, a pyroclastic flow, which is a phenomenon we are very cautious about,” Schifani said.
Salvo Cocina, head of the regional civil affairs department, advised tourists to avoid the area.
– Continuous Activities –
Marco Viccaro, president of the Italian Volcano Society, told Corriere Della Sera Daily about the intensity of the volcano seen on Monday.
“The paroxysmal growth that started last night, with continued intensity, is a volcanic dynamic of continuous activity,” he said.
He said the phase is marked by a “short-term attack with strong energy” but less than the phase between 2020 and 2022.
He added: “This is a Strongboria activity, which is relatively mild in the early stages and then rapidly strengthens until a rather frequent explosion occurs.”
The volcano is in a “charging phase” in which the magma is usually deeper inside the earth and is now closer to the ground.
How much in the magma will determine how long the activity will last, Viccaro said.
“Evolution depends on the volume of magma entering the upper part of the feeding system,” he said.
He added that the activity “could develop over weeks, if not months, similar to the events we witnessed.”
AMS/DJT
