ROME (AP) – Mount Etna, Europe’s most active volcano, has impressed even seasoned volcanologists in recent days with spectacular lava eruptions illuminating the Sicilian sky every night.
According to Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, the last eruption will be over overnight at around 9 a.m. GMT.
For over a week, Mount Etna has regularly farmed lava, ash and volcanic rock. The nearby Catania airport has been temporarily closed and residents of the city of Pedara said one day last week it seemed like it was raining rocks while a thick blanket of ash covered the city.
Volcanologist Boris Behncke from the National Institute’s Mount Etna Observation Center has followed the latest attacks with awe. Writing on the institute’s website this week, he said that after giving us “ moments of tension ” over the past few nights, Mount Etna finally erupted in a way that “ those of us who have worked in this for decades rarely have seen’.
Referring to overnight activity, he tweeted Tuesday, “Did I call #Etna’s spasm attack from February 20-21 ‘incredibly powerful’? Well, his successor was MUCH more powerful on the night of February 22-23. ”
So far there have been no reports of damage or injury.