WATCH: Volcanic eruption from Mount Etna disrupts flight operations in Catania
The volcano is under observation by scientists to ensure the safety of nearby residents
May 22, 2023
Europe's most violent volcano eruption from Mount Etna spread out its ashes to nearby areas including the airport runway in the eastern Sicilian city of Catania where flight operations suffered a halt.
The airport said: "Flights to and from Catania, a popular tourist destination, would be suspended until normal safety conditions could be guaranteed".
According to Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), "ash fell across the runway and over the city of Catania and on at least one town on Mount Etna’s slopes".
The INGV monitors Etna with instrumentation on the slopes. It noted that "cloud cover on a rainy day impeded views of the eruption, which often serves up a spectacular display of flaming lava during the volcano’s not infrequent spells of heightened activity."
The INGV indicated that observation had recorded evidence of a stepping up in tremor activity in recent days.
The videos and images uploaded on social media showed huge dusk of dark coloured on cars and on the roads.
There were reports of injuries as a result.
Italian news agency ANSA said that people in the towns of Adrano and Biancavilla reported hearing loud booms emanating from the volcano Sunday.
Italy's national Civil Protection Agency had noted Thursday in an alert that "sudden" variations of Etna’s activity could occur in view of increased volcanic activity.
A similar eruption occurred back in 2021 which lasted for several weeks.
Amid its recent violent activities and the potential threat to nearby populations, Mount Etna was added to the list of 16 Decade Volcanoes worldwide, a designation given by the United Nations to volcanoes that exhibit more than one volcanic hazard.
The volcano is under observation by scientists to ensure the safety of nearby residents, while studying the geological processes at play.
