Mt Etna, a new eruption starts on July 19

UPDATE FROM INSTITUTE OF VOLCANOLOGY– The eruption has ended on July 21st

A new eruption has just started on Mt.Etna. By the dawn of July 18th, the great Sicilian volcano had begun to show signs of nervousness. The volcano, which however had not been quiet for some time, had manifested the first flashes due to the growing Strombolian activity in the previous twenty-four hours. This activity had intensified in the evening and during the night, with roars and explosions of fire that had already attracted attention.

Mt. Etna eruption, a new hole

Around 1 am, in the night between 18 and 19 July, a new hole opened at the base of the New South East Crater. The explosive activity was evident from both cone’s openings throughout the night. In the morning a long lava flow poured into the north-eastern side of the Valle del Bove .

Tremors, ash and lava flows

mt etna july 19_2 Etna is showing, once again, a particular eruptive mode. The volcanic tremor rises dramatically and then falls abruptly. It goes up again quickly and then back down for no apparent reason.

In all this, on the 19th July the explosions accompanied a strong emission of ash. This led to the temporary closure of the airports of Catania and Comiso. The show on the evening of July 19 saw a series of new lava streams superimposing the original one.

At the moment, the INGV volcanologists continue to monitor the situation because the tremor has not yet returned and the phenomena of ash and lava emissions continue, though in a moderate way, even on the 20th July. (photo by Grazia Musumeci)