Mount Etna Eruption on Thursday, 30 May 2019 and available Friday, 31 May 2019 Mount Etna volcano spewed lava during the eruption. Mount Etna, or Etna (Italian: Etna [ˈɛtna] or Mongibello [mondʒiˈbɛllo]; Sicilian: Mungibeddu [mʊndʒɪbˈbɛɖɖʊ] or â Muntagna; Latin: Aetna; Greek: Αίτνα), is an active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily, Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Catania, between the cities of Messina and Catania. It lies above the convergent plate margin between the African Plate and the Eurasian Plate. It is the highest active volcano in Europe outside the Caucasus. It is currently 3,326 m (10,912 ft) high, though this varies with summit eruptions. It is the highest peak in Italy south of the Alps. Etna covers an area of 1,190 km2 (459 sq mi) with a basal circumference of 140 km (87 miles). This makes it by far the largest of the three active volcanoes in Italy, being about two and a half times the height of the next largest, Mount Vesuvius. Only Mount Teide on Tenerife in the Canary Islands surpasses it in the whole of the European–North-African region west of the Black Sea. In Greek Mythology, the deadly monster Typhon was trapped under this mountain by Zeus, the god of the sky and thunder and king of gods, and the forges of Hephaestus were said to also be located underneath it.
Mount Etna is one of the world’s most active volcanoes and is in an almost constant state of activity. The fertile volcanic soils support extensive agriculture, with vineyards and orchards spread across the lower slopes of the mountain and the broad Plain of Catania to the south. Due to its history of recent activity and nearby population, Mount Etna has been designated a Decade Volcano by the United Nations. In June 2013, it was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Mount Etna in Sicily has roared back to spectacular volcanic action since Thursday morning, sending clumps of ash and spewing lava. the largest of the three active volcanoes in Italy, spewed ash and lava once again, but officials said the activity took place at its peak and did not pose a risk to people and cities. Etna began a new phase of the eruption on Thursday when two new cracks in the volcano opened, sending lava under its wings.
Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) noted that previous activity occurred before the eruption, with a series of seismic events occurring in the weeks leading up to two opening slits in the New Southeast Crater of Mount Etna.
Eugenio Privitera, director of INGV Catania, said the eruption took place at the Etna Summit and did not pose a risk to the population. But he said Etna visitors must stay away from the summit for their own safety.
The northern lava flow reaches a distance of more than 1 mile while the southern lava flows almost double that distance, reports INGV.
The volcano erupted in December. The eruption was linked to an earthquake that caused extensive injury and damage to buildings on and near the slopes of the volcano.
News Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mount-etna-erupts-in-italy-sending-ash-and-lava-into-the-sky-2019-06-01/