Etna spews smoke and ashes in spectacular new eruption

Mount Etna in Sicily has roared back into spectacular volcanic action, sending up plumes of ash and spewing lava

Credit: Davide Anastasi /LaPresse

On Tuesday there was a major increase in volcanic activity at the Southeast Crater, followed by a violent pyroclastic flow accompanied by tall lava fountains and lava flow

Credit: Anadolu Agency 

A view of the Mount Etna eruption spewing ash, as seen from Paterno, Italy

Credit: LUIGI SENNA /REUTERS

Nevertheless, with small stones and ashes raining down, authorities decided to close Catania’s international airport.

The emergency authorities said on their Twitter account that they were monitoring the situation closely in the three villages at the foot of the volcano — Linguaglossa, Fornazzo and Milo.

Images showed a spectacular rose-coloured plume of ashes above the snow-capped summit, but the cloud had largely dissipated by nightfall, while lava flows continued to glow.

At 3,324 metres (nearly 11,000 feet), Etna is the tallest active volcano in Europe and has erupted frequently in the past 500,000 years.