Sicily's Mount Etna erupts

The volcano in Italy erupted earlier this week, spewing a column of ash into the sky

Welcome to Views From Above, a newsletter bringing you satellite imagery snapshots of major world events. Today, we are looking at the eruption of Mount Etna, an active volcano in Italy.

On Monday morning, tourists hiking Sicily’s Mount Etna were forced to evacuate when a huge eruption sent ash billowing into the sky. The active volcano is a popular destination and welcomes more than a million visitors each year who come to see the lava flows and fissures regularly visible at the site. The last large eruption occurred in February, and this recent activity created a blast heard more than 40 kilometers away.

The satellite imagery above shows how the active volcano looked on a typical day last month, compared with this week’s large eruption. Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology stated that all tourists who were on the volcano when the eruption occurred have been evacuated, and the activity was limited to the volcano’s summit (an area not open to tourists). According to initial observations by the national institute, a section of the volcano’s southeast crater partially collapsed during the eruption.

Renato Schifani, Sicily’s president, said lava flows created by the eruption are contained and pose no danger to the local population. The eruption’s strength lessened as the day progressed, and Italian officials now say the intensity of tremors has fallen and lava flows are beginning to cool.

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