Footage shared on social media shows huge clouds of black smoke after the eruption
Mount Etna has erupted in Sicily, spewing a huge column of gas and ash into the sky above the Italian island.
Footage shared on social media showed people running for their lives down the mountainside of Europe’s largest and most active volcano, as a thick column of smoke intensified above them.
Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology said in a widely reported statement that the volcano was experiencing strong strombolian explosions – a type of eruption – “of growing intensity”.
“Over the past few hours, the falling of a little thin ash has been flagged in the Piano Vetore area,” the statement said. They have since announced that the eruption is over.
According to the Volcanic Discovery website, prior to the eruption there were volcanic tremors which began at around 10pm local time and reached their peak shortly before 1am.
The Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre in Toulouse, one of nine such centres worldwide used to monitor aviation risks, warned that a volcanic ash plume had reached an altitude of around 6,400 metres. They downgraded the threat level to yellow late on Monday afternoon.
Aviation alert reduced to yellow
The aviation alert in Sicily has been reduced from a red to a yellow.
The Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre Toulouse, which advises the International Civil Aviation Organization on the risk of volcanic eruption, downgraded their risk from red to yellow earlier this afternoon.
Mount Etna eruption mapped: How often does Italy’s ‘Lady of the Rings’ volcano erupt?
Mount Etna has erupted, sending a kilometres-high plume of ash into the sky and sending tourists fleeing from the popular World Heritage area.
Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology said the eruption began around 3.50am local time (2.50am BST), following volcanic tremors which began around midnight local time.
The institute said eruption activity has continued since then with “increasing intensity” and was currently “almost continuous”.
Mount Etna eruption mapped: How often does Italy’s ‘Lady of the Rings’ volcano erupt?
Mount Etna’s worst disaster
Residents of Sicily are familiar with the eruptions of Mount Etna; today’s eruption is the 14th in recent months.
Rarely are people injured or killed. During a February eruption this year, officials were even forced to try to stop people from heading towards, not away, from the spewing Mount Etna, as tourists tried to snap the dazzling flows of bright orange lava.
But previous eruptions have been devastating.
Worst among them was in 1669. At least 20,000 citizens, mainly from the nearby city of Catania, are believed to have died after a massive, months-long eruption. Approximately 3,000 people living on the side of the volcano died of asphyxiation, while a further 17,000 below died after refusing to flee their homes, believing the city’s defensive walls would protect them.
Sicily’s Mount Etna erupts in a fiery show of smoke and ash miles high
Read a roundup of today’s eruption of Mount Etna below.
Sicily’s Mount Etna erupts in a fiery show of smoke and ash miles high
More footage of Mount Edna’s eruption
Below we have some more footage of Mount Etna’s eruption.
A view of Mount Etna from an ancient Sicilian theatre
Below we have photos sent to us from tourists visiting Sicily.
Here, you can see the eruption of Mount Etna from the Ancient Theatre of Taormina, some 18 miles away.
How concerned should tourists and locals be about the eruption?
Bill McGuire, professor emeritus of geophysical and climate hazards at UCL, said today’s eruption at Mount Etna was “nothing unusual” for the popular volcano.
“Although this can appear terrifying to tourists visiting the volcano, this activity is nothing unusual for Mount Etna, which is almost continually active and has these sorts of eruptions every year or two,” he told The Independent.
Prof McGuire said the ash and volcanic gas spewing from the crater can cause respiratory issues, but most likely only near the summit.
“If the eruption grows and there is heavier ash fall further away, then face masks can deal with the worst of the ash,” he said.
“There is a danger from falling blocks and volcanic ‘bombs’ (semi-molten fragments), but only close to the erupting crater. It goes without saying that this should be avoided.”
While ash fall can sometimes cause Catania’s airport to close, that is only temporary.
“The biggest problems are caused by lava flows that erupt on the volcano’s flanks, which can be very destructive. So far, this does not seem to be happening during this eruption,” he said.
Sicily president: We are following the eruption with extreme caution
We have a statement from the president of the Sicilian region, Renato Schifani.
“I am following with the utmost attention, through the head of our Civil Protection, the evolution of the situation on Etna, Mr Schifani says.
“Director Cocina has been in constant contact, since the early hours of this morning, with the prefect of Catania and with the heads of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology of Etna.
“The partial collapse of the South-East crater, which generated an imposing eruptive cloud several kilometers high and a pyroclastic flow, represents a phenomenon that we are following with extreme caution.
“At the moment, from the first surveys, the material has not exceeded the edge of the Valle del Leone and, as they assure me, there is no danger for the population.”
In pictures: Mount Etna erupts
Here are some more pictures from today’s eruption of Mount Etna.
