In Sicily, ash and smoke from Etna closed Catania-Liberation Airport

Etna roar. Since this morning the Sicilian press has been reporting on “strong roar” from “The southwestern slope shook.” Because this Sunday, May 21, the Sicilian volcano has erupted again, causing a faint noise to be heard as far as Biancavilla, a town 30 kilometers away. “Due to the volcanic activity of Mount Etna and the abundant amounts of volcanic ash that fell on the airport, flight operations have been suspended until safe conditions are restored.”, as announced by Catania Airport in a press release. Last year, about 10 million passengers passed through this international airport, which serves the eastern part of Sicily, one of Italy’s most popular tourist destinations.

On Sunday afternoon, thick clouds around the volcano’s summit continued to alter visibility, masking the release of ash into the atmosphere, the Italian Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) said. Currently, volcanic activity is only monitored by volcanologists’ instruments because bad weather hides the volcano and prevents direct observation of the situation. Experts from the Itnen Observatory in Catania also explain this “Cloud cover persists in the volcano’s summit area, so that it is not possible to conduct volcanic observations via the video surveillance network.”

Lava fountains

Etna, with a peak height of 3324 metres, is the highest active volcano in Europe. It has erupted frequently over the past 500,000 years. Regularly, activity resumes. But this Sunday, the regional civil protection department issued an orange alert. INGV then reported the current status of the volcano, a grade of F2, which corresponds to a very high probability of the imminent or continuing appearance of lava fountains.

“The mayors of the areas of the summit of Etna and other entities are invited to activate the measures provided for in the above-mentioned procedures, in the declared phase, and in particular: proceed with the prohibitions provided for, stay informed, to evaluate the activation of the hut, their facilities and their volunteers and to activate the measures provided for in the Civil Protection Plan Municipal “-You can read the note sent by the Italian Civil Protection.