A particularly spectacular blast from Italy’s Mount Etna volcano belched out a towering cloud of ash and lava stone on Sunday. The explosion is the latest in a series of recent Etna flare-ups. Scientists are studying the mountain looking for signs of an end to the eruptions.
On February 16, Europe’s most active volcano started giving off an impressive demonstration of God’s natural firepower. The night sky turned stunning hues of orange and red. Italy’s national geophysics and volcanology institute INGV says the powerful 2:00 a.m. explosion was the tenth such big blast from Mount Etna.
Geologically active, Etna occasionally becomes particularly noisy and explosive. That has been the case lately.
Increasing tremors rattled the mountain throughout much of Sunday night. Ash and small lava stones rained down on eight villages along Etna’s slopes all morning. Lava flowed from the southeast crater slowly down an uninhabited side, as it has been doing for the last three weeks, according to institute officials.
INGV scientists are monitoring the volcanic activity with high-tech instruments from an Etna observatory in eastern Sicily. They say Sunday’s column of ash and lava reached a height of 33,000 feet. Winds helped carry the rising debris eastward. Thankfully, no one has reported injuries or serious damage after the recent blasts.
Local residents swept ash and lava stones from their front steps and balconies. Some have begun covering their cars parked outdoors with carpets, blankets, and sheets of cardboard. Such measures make cleanup easier after each new blast rains powdery grit.
By mid-morning Sunday, Etna’s latest display of activity had slowed somewhat, with the lava flow ending. However, the rumbling volcano continued puffing out a “weak emission of ash” from the southeast crater. A few hours later, the volcanic tremors picked up again, INGV scientists say.
INGV officials say there is no way of predicting when this current round of robust volcanic activity might subside.
Who looks on the Earth and it trembles; who touches the mountains and they smoke! — Psalm 104:32
(Lava gushes from the Mount Etna volcano near Catania, southern Italy, on Tuesday, February 16, 2021. AP/Salvatore Allegra)
