Italy’s Mount Etna volcano erupts with a massive ash cloud and a “lava fountain”

Mount Etna, the tumultuous volcano on the Italian island of Sicily, resumed life on Monday, spitting hot ashes and lava in a pyroclastic flow, said the surveillance body of the country’s volcano. There was no risk report for the local population, which is used to frequent eruptions of Etna or plane trips.

The volcano department, led by the National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology of Italy, noted on Monday “growing explosions of intensity” which, according to them, were “almost continuous”.

At noon local time, Ingv Vulcan said In an article on social networks that “the explosive activity of the southeast crater has become a lava fountain”, and infrared images published by the group showed the flow of lava on the face of the mountain.

The video shared earlier on the Institute’s Facebook page showed a massive plume of smoke and ashes that rose in the light blue sky.

The volcano department said that the eruption was caused by part of the collapse of the southeast crater of Etna, which released lava flows.

The only danger was in the region just around the Etna summit, which was blocked at group groups on Monday, said that the Associated Press quoted the head of Ingv Stefano Branca. A video published on social networks showed tourists who had been on Etna running along a path on the side of the volcano while smoke swallowed behind them.

The AP cited Renato Schifani, the head of the regional government of Sicily, saying that pyroclastic flows “put no danger for the population” of the island.

Mount Etna is considered the most active volcano in Europe and the most active stratovolcano in the world. A stratovolcano – What many people think when they hear the word volcano – is the conical type, often with a central crater, which is formed by the layer of lava from repeated eruptions during the millennia.

Etna had an important eruption a little over a year ago when she Observers treated with rare clouds in the shape of a ring swollen by its craterknown as vortex bubbles.

Etna has broken out at least once a year in recent years, sometimes covering neighboring cities in a layer of volcanic dust, but not causing any major problems otherwise.