Tourists flee as Etna erupts above their heads causing red aviation alerts in Sicily

 ROME – On Monday morning Etna unexpectedly erupted, leaving tourists fleeing the scene as several kilometres of ash filled the air, as captured in a video posted to social media.

 According to the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology Etnean Observatory of Catania, the eruption was caused by a pyroclastic flow produced by the collapse of a wall on the northern flank of the South-East crater. The hot ash, from what has so far been ascertained by scientists, did not appear to have passed the edge of the Valle del Leone but the tremor produced by the explosion measured very high on the Richter scale. 

 The President of Sicily, Schifani said, 'We are monitoring Etna and it presents no danger to the population'. The phenomenon was captured on video and photos that were posted on social media, making Etna's eruptive activity go viral.

 Catania airport has been placed on red alert following the explosion, according to Catania INGV and the VONA - Volcano observatory notice for aviation – is at the highest level. The impact on air traffic in any case is not so much linked to the height of the volcanic cloud but rather to the direction of the winds and where it has taken the ash. As Monday was a relatively windless the ash cloud has not yet moved towards Catania and thus did not majorly impact incoming and outgoing flights.

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