Sicily’s Mount Etna is erupting again. Europe’s most active volcano has spent the last 24 hours sending huge plumes of ash and smoke hundreds of metres into the skies above Sicily. The 3350-metre high volcano began to stir on Tuesday, with emissions from its north-east crater growing in intensity throughout the day.

“On May 17th we witnessed an increase in the amplitude of volcanic tremors and recorded intense degassing accompanied by occasional, weak emissions from the north-eastern crater,” explained the Catania branch of Italy’s National Vulcanology and Geophysics Institute (INGV). Vulcanologists are classing the eruption as ‘Strombolian’ – a category characterized by explosive bursts of activity during which cinder, ash and smoke are ejected from the crater with great force. READ MORE


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