Italy's Mount Etna volcano erupts with a massive ash cloud and a "lava fountain"
Mount Etna, the raging volcano on the Italian island of Sicily, resumed activity on Monday, spewing hot ash and lava in a pyroclastic flow, according to the national volcano monitoring service. There were no reports of any danger to local residents, who are used to Etna's frequent eruptions, or to air travel.
The Volcanology Department of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology reported on Monday "explosions of increasing intensity" that it described as "almost continuous."
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By noon local time, the INGV Vulcani Institute announced in a social media post that "explosive activity from the southeastern crater has transformed into a lava fountain." Infrared images released by the institute showed lava flowing down the mountain's summit.
A video posted earlier on the institute's Facebook page showed a massive plume of smoke and ash rising into the clear blue sky.
The volcanology department stated that the eruption of Mount Etna was caused by the collapse of part of the volcano's southeastern crater, which led to the release of lava flows.
The only danger was in the area around Mount Etna, which was closed to tourist groups on Monday as a precaution, according to Stefano Branca, an official with the National Volcanology Institute, quoted by the Associated Press. A video posted on social media showed tourists on Mount Etna running along a path on the flank of the volcano, as smoke billowed in the distance behind them.
The Associated Press quoted Renato Schifani, president of the Sicilian regional government, as saying that the pyroclastic flows "do not pose a danger to the inhabitants" of the island.
Mount Etna is the most active volcano in Europe and the most active in the world. A stratovolcano—which is what many people think of when they hear the word volcano—is a cone-shaped volcano, often with a central crater, composed of layers of lava accumulated through repeated eruptions over thousands of years.
A little over a year ago, Mount Etna experienced a major eruption, allowing observers to see rare ring-like clouds billowing from its crater, known as volcanic bubbles.
Etna has erupted at least once a year for the past few years, occasionally covering nearby cities in a layer of volcanic ash, without causing any major problems.