Striking new video captures moment when Mount Etna recently erupted
New video shows the moment when Mount Etna, Europe's largest active volcano, spewed bubbling lava and hot ash into the Sicilian sky earlier this week.
On Sunday (Jan. 17), lava began "oozing" from the Etna's southeast crater and toward the east, according to Boris Behncke, a volcanologist at the INGV-Osservatorio Etneo in Catania, Sicily, Express reported. By Monday evening, the crater exploded in a "new paroxysmal eruptive episode," releasing bursts of lava, hot ash and gas, Behncke tweeted.
Italian authorities issue ash advisory after eruption of Mount Etna. This video shot about 14 miles from the base of the volcano shows a huge plume of smoke rising as lava shoots towards the sky. https://t.co/7BhMUkKaJC pic.twitter.com/bqErtZwin9January 19, 2021
One lava flow spilled over the east side of the crater, snaking toward the uninhabited Valle del Bove, a horseshoe-shape depression in the side of the volcano; a second lava flow was also detected on the northern side of the crater, Express reported. The molten lava glowed red against the dark rock, and it showered the volcano's summit with spectacular sparks.
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Italian authorities issued an ash advisory for surrounding cities, and the debris were found as far away as Fleri, which lies 18 miles (28.9 kilometers) from the volcano.
Mount Etna has almost continuous volcanic activity near its summit craters and in the Valle del Bove, Live Science previously reported. These eruptions near the summit, like the one that occurred Monday, rarely endanger people living nearby.
Originally published on Live Science.
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Nicoletta Lanese is the health channel editor at Live Science and was previously a news editor and staff writer at the site. She is a recipient of the 2026 AHCJ International Health Study Fellowship, with a project focused on antibiotic stewardship practices in Japan and the U.S. They hold a graduate certificate in science communication from UC Santa Cruz and degrees in neuroscience and dance from the University of Florida. Beyond Live Science, Lanese's work has appeared in The Scientist, Science News, the Mercury News, Mongabay and Stanford Medicine Magazine, among other outlets. Based in NYC, she also remains involved in dance and performs in local choreographers' work.