The Italian volcano Mount Etna has spectacularly erupted for a sixth time in just a few days, spewing 500-metre-high lava fountains early on Thursday, the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) announced.
The south-east crater of the volcano on Sicily emitted a thick cloud of ash and smoke which rose several kilometres into the sky.
The eruption felt a little calmer than the one seen last week, an eye witness from the city of Catania, which is located at the bottom of the 3,300-metre-high volcano, said.
It was Etna’s sixth eruption within eight days, basically a record for the south-east crater, volcanologist Marco Viccaro told Italian Corriere della Serra daily.
“The volcano had already erupted with similar frequency from another crater in the past,” he said.
Mount Etna, located in the eastern part of the Italian island, has been very active since mid-February, with the latest eruptions usually occurring in the evening and overnight.
The spectacle usually does not pose a threat to the people living in the surrounding areas, which are often covered by ash as a result of the eruptions.
