Sicily’s Mount Etna has once again captured global attention, putting on a spectacular display as it sent a towering cloud of smoke and ash several kilometres into the sky.
Despite the dramatic scenes, officials assured the public that the volcanic activity posed no danger to residents.
Authorities raised the alert level at Catania airport on Monday in response to the volcanic activity. However, flights continued as normal, with no immediate disruptions reported.
By the afternoon, an official update announced that the volcanic ash cloud emission had ceased.
According to Italy’s INGV National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, the spectacle presented by Europe’s most active volcano was triggered when part of the southeast crater collapsed, resulting in a cascade of hot lava flows. The incident marked the 14th such eruptive phase in recent months.
The zone of risk was restricted to Etna’s summit, which was closed off to tourists as a precaution, INGV official Stefano Branca said.
Sicily’s President Renato Schifani stated that lava flows emitted in the eruption had not breached the volcano’s natural containment area, “and posed no danger to the population”.
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Dramatic footage and images of the eruption quickly went viral on social media, as tremors from the event were widely felt in the towns and villages on Mount Etna’s flanks, according to Italian media reports.