Mount Etna volcano roars into action with ash and lava

In this photo taken on late Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018, Mount Etna volcano spews lava during an eruption. Mount Etna in Sicily has roared back into spectacular volcanic action, sending up plumes of ash and spewing lava. Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology (INGV) says that the volcano, which initially “re-awoke” in late July, sprang into fuller action Thursday evening by shooting up chunks of flaming lava as high as 150 meters (500 feet) almost constantly. (Boris Behncke/I.N.G.V. via AP)

Associated Press
ROME

Mount Etna in Sicily has roared back into spectacular volcanic action, sending up plumes of ash and spewing lava.

Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology (INGV) says that the volcano, which initially “re-awoke” in late July, sprang into fuller action Thursday evening by shooting up chunks of flaming lava as high as 150 meters (500 feet) almost constantly.

On Friday, INGV said the action was continuing, feeding ash plumes several hundred meters (yards) into the air above the crater.

Mount Etna volcano spews lava during an eruption early Friday, Aug. 24, 2018. Mount Etna in Sicily has roared back into spectacular volcanic action, sending up plumes of ash and spewing lava. Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology (INGV) says that the volcano, which initially “re-awoke” in late July, sprang into fuller action Thursday evening by shooting up chunks of flaming lava as high as 150 meters (500 feet) almost constantly. (Boris Behncke/I.N.G.V. via AP)

No evacuations of towns on Etna’s slopes were reported.

Sicilians farm on the fertile soils of the slopes of Etna. The volcano is also a popular destination for hikers on the Mediterranean island.

In this frame taken from a surveillance camera of the Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology (INGV), smoke billows from the Mount Etna volcano during an eruption Friday, Aug. 24, 2018. Mount Etna in Sicily has roared back into spectacular volcanic action, sending up plumes of ash and spewing lava. Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology (INGV) says that the volcano, which initially “re-awoke” in late July, sprang into fuller action Thursday evening by shooting up chunks of flaming lava as high as 150 meters (500 feet) almost constantly. (I.N.G.V. via AP)