Etna Erupts Explosively

Mt Etna, Europe’s most active volcano, erupted for the sixth time this year

Etna’s spectacular eruption, which began Thursday, is the 24th explosion since January 2011.

Etna erupted explosively for the 6th time so far this year. Freeze frame from an AP news video clip.

Mount Etna (37.734°N, 15.004°E) is Europe’s highest volcano, towering 3,330m above Catania, Sicily’s second largest city. Photo by Jean-Claude Tanguy, 1991 (University of Paris). Source: GVP.

• News video clips show large volumes of lava and plumes of smoke and ash being ejected from a new crater on the volcano’s southeast flank.
• The massive volcano is located about 15km from the village of Zafferana Etnea and 30km from Catania, Sicily’s second largest city.
• Etna boasts  one of the world’s longest documented records of activity, with its historical volcanism dating back to 1500 BC.
• The latest eruption which began on Thursday is the 24th in a series that started in January 2011. The last three eruption have occurred in 12-day intervals.
• Also known as the “the Mountain of Fire,” the basaltic stratovolcano covers an area of about 1,200km².
• The Mongibello is in near constant state of activity.
• More than a quarter of Sicily’s population lives on the slopes of Mount Etna.

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