A massive eruption occurred at Mt. Etna on the Italian island of Sicily, producing a plume of high temperature gases, ash and rock “several kilometers high,” authorities said on Monday.
The eruption, which began overnight, produced explosions heard as far away as Taormina and Catania, which are about 50 kilometers and 40 kilometers (31 miles and 25 miles) away, respectively, according to several witnesses who posted footage on social media.
The National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology Observatory said that the preliminary observations show a “partial collapse” of the northern flank of the volcano’s southeast crater, which has produced spectacular lava flows during recent eruptions in the last few months.
The Sicilian Civil Protection agency issued a Volcanic Observatory Notice for Aviation (VONA), which means all flight travel must avoid the area. The airports in Catania and Palermo remain open as, currently, the wind is not blowing ash in the direction of the airport. However, some flights from Catania have been diverted to Palermo, according to Flight Radar Data.
Around 1 p.m. local time (7 a.m. ET), the volcano started spewing hot lava, which is more in line with previous eruptions, an observatory spokesman said.
The observatory defined the volcanic activity as a pyroclastic eruption, resulting in a “significant increase in volcanic tremor and the formation of an eruptive column containing a lethal mixture of high-temperature gases, lava grains, volcanic ash, and rock fragments of various sizes that rapidly descends down the slopes of the volcano.”