Spectacular Photos Of Mount Etna’s Eruption: Fire And Light In The Sky Over Sicily

| December 5, 2015 | Earth Changes, New Science | No Comments

MessageToEagle.com – Mount Etna is the largest volcano in Europe and one of the most active volcanoes in the world. On Thursday this week it erupted for the first time in two years. As you can see on these incredible photos, there was certainly plenty of fire and light in the sky over Sicily.

A massive volcanic plume emerges from Voragine crater as Mount Etna erupts in Sicily, Italy, Dec. 3, 2015. Image credit: Marco Restivo/Demotix/Corbis
A massive volcanic plume emerges from Voragine crater as Mount Etna erupts in Sicily, Italy, Dec. 3, 2015. Image credit: Marco Restivo/Demotix/Corbis

Once thought to be non-threatening to the 900,000 residents in the area because of its steady flow of lava, researchers have found that Mount Etna is capable of giving rise to highly explosive activities.

Mount Etna eruption
A dirty thunderstorm and volcanic lightning are seen above Mt. Etna in Sicily, Italy, Dec. 3, 2015. Image credit: Marco Restivo/Demotix/Corbis

“Volcanic lightning was seen above the giant plume of fire and smoke rising from the volcano and into the night sky.

Mount Etna eruption
A huge cloud was seen in the sky. Image credit: http://www.italiansongs.org/

The activity in the crater began on Thursday with Strombolian eruptions, which are short-lived, explosive outbursts of lava, and intensified today, the INGV said. The volcano’s explosions have grown to a new peak with lava, magma, ash and gas elevating to at least 7 kilometers above the summit of the volcano with prevailing winds that the INGV said are still weak,“ ABC News reports.

Mount Etna eruption
Smoke rises over the city of Taormina during an eruption of the Mount Etna. Image credit: Giovanni Isolino/AFP/Getty Images
Mount Etna eruption
After a two-year respite, Sicily’s massive Etna volcano is showing signs of life. Beginning on December 2, 2015, the volcano began to erupt, sending fountains of lava into the air and jets of hot material as much as 3 kilometers above the summit. On December 3, 2015, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 collected this natural-color view of a plume of gas and ash streaming from the summit toward the southeast. Image credit: NASA Earth Observatory

Video of Mount Etna erupting

A frightening yet dazzling volcanic explosion at Mount Etna.

Posted by Tech Insider on Friday, December 4, 2015

Sicilian photographer Marco Restivo captured the spectacular explosion, which set off a so-called “dirty thunderstorm” above the crater that swirled with lightning, fire, and ash.

The Voragine crater was formed inside of the central crater in 1945 and is among three other craters in the volcano: Bocca Nuova, the crater of the Northeast and the crater of the Southeast, which the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) said has been the most active one.

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References:
ABC News

NASA – Earth Observatory

Tech Insider

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