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.
Related: Big blasts: History's 10 most destructive volcanoes
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.
