Mount Etna eruption live updates: Volcanic blast which sent tourists fleeing was most powerful in four years

The style of eruption which was seen from Mount Etna on Monday was “peculiar and difficult”, Volcano expert Giuseppe Salerno has told The Independent.

Paroxysmal eruptions are short, intense bursts of volcanic activity which result in the thick columns of black gas and ash seen rising from the Sicilian mountain yesterday.

The eruptions are “quite peculiar and difficult, because they last two hours for five hours” before a period of time where there is no activity, he said.

But this form of eruption is common on Mount Etna and there have been hundreds in the last three decades, Mr Salerno, head of Volcanology at Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, explained.

“Etna can produce also this kind of eruption every day. So it’s not something anomalous [or] abnormal. It’s something quite typical.

“Since 2011, it became the prevalent eruptive style on Mount Etna.”

On Monday morning local time, a huge cloud of ash, hot gas and rock fragments began spewing from Italy’s Mount Etna.

An enormous plume was seen stretching several kilometres into the sky from the mountain on the island of Sicily, which is the largest active volcano in Europe.

While the blast created an impressive sight, the eruption resulted in no reported injuries or damage and barely even disrupted flights on or off the island.

Volcanology expertTeresa Ubide writes:

When Mount Etna erupted, huge plume of pyroclastic flow ejected explosively form the Sicilian volcano.

But what is pyroclastic flow?

The extremely dangerous mass of volcanic rock, ash and hot gases surges from a volcanoes crater at a speed of hundreds of kilometres per hour.

“Pyroclastic flows (dense mixes of gas ash and volcanic particles) are very dangerous because of the high speed in which they move and the high temperature,” said Dr Carmen Solana, Volcanology professor at the University of Portsmouth.

“Of course inhaling the particles can be harming too, especially if hot.”

National Geographic says the flow is “extremely hot, burning anything in its path”.

Mount Etna is considered the most active volcano in Europe, and the most active stratovolcano in the world (a stratovolcano is what most people consider a volcano, namely a conical formation, often with a central crater, formed by layer upon layer of lava from repeated eruptions).

So it is no wonder that Mount Etna has erupted countless times in the thousands of years it has been documented.

But how many times has it erupted this year?

The short answer: A lot; and continually.

The Global Volcanism Program records “continued activity” at Mount Etna consistently from mid-February, when there was a major eruption.

On 23 April and 13 May, there were notable additional eruptions, with lava fountains and ash plumes observed.

While dozens of tourists ran down Mount Etna as the volcano spewed ash and gas on Monday, others ran up a slope to take pictures of the spectacle.

Video shows people both fleeing from and going towards the plume, although still from a distance.

Volcanologist Professor Dougal Jerram told The Independent said volcano eruptions can be quite spectacular, which attracts visitors.

“It’s always a battle to try and make sure people are safe. But also there’s a certain element of needing people to be able to see and appreciate the natural phenomenon as well as understand the beauty, but also the risks with such an amazing mountain,” he said.

“While [authorities are] constantly monitoring what’s happening, they need to be able to warn people when things are more dangerous. But obviously, once you get to relatively passive eruptions, there is a potential for people to sort of almost become volcano tourists.”

Residents of Sicily are familiar with the eruptions of Mount Etna; today’s eruption is the 14th in recent months.

Rarely are people injured or killed. During a February eruption this year, officials were even forced to try to stop people from heading towards, not away, from the spewing Mount Etna, as tourists tried to snap the dazzling flows of bright orange lava.

But previous eruptions have been devastating.

Worst among them was in 1669. At least 20,000 citizens, mainly from the nearby city of Catania, are believed to have died after a massive, months-long eruption. Approximately 3,000 people living on the side of the volcano died of asphyxiation, while a further 17,000 below died after refusing to flee their homes, believing the city’s defensive walls would protect them.

A pyroclastic flow – a powerful avalanche of hot rock, ash, and gas – was witnessed on Mount Etna surveillance cameras at around 11:30am local time on Monday, according to Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology.

This was “probably produced by a collapse of material from the northern flank of the South-East Crater”, according to a statement from the institute.

The hot pyroclastic material does not appear to have crossed the edge of the Valle del Leone, it said.

However, the explosive activity from the Southeast Crater has become a lava fountain, the institute said.

Mount Etna, the volcano that towers over eastern Sicily, has again captivated the world with a spectacular show, spewing smoke and high into the sky.

But the defining event of Monday’s eruption was the more rare pyroclastic flow from the southwestern crater not visible from a distance.

The volcano is Europe’s most active, and the continent’s largest. Etna attracts hikers and backpackers to its slopes while less adventurous tourists can take it in from a distance, most stunningly from the Ionian Sea.

Mount Etna has been nicknamed the ‘Lady of the Rings’ due to the rings it produces made of condensed water vapour.

The rings were first spotted erupting from Etna in the 1970s, in one of the first recorded events of this type. The rings came again in 2000, 2013 and 2023.

In 2024, Etna again puffed volcanic vortex rings from its crater.

The rings are formed of gas which escapes from underground magma, tour company Etna Way explains.

“They only form under certain conditions: the gas must rise quickly upwards in a narrow, round and regular vent, as after an explosion of a gas bubble in the magma.

“The gas rises faster in the centre of the vent than at the edges, where it is slowed down by friction.

“As a result, the gas begins to rotate around itself. This is how these rings can form, which then rise further upwards or are blown away by the wind,” Etna Way explained.

The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has not released any new travel advice relating to Mount Etna’s eruption as of Monday morning.

The FCDO’s general advice for volcanic eruptions states that you should follow any guidance and instructions shared with you by local authorities.

“If you are asked to evacuate, do so as soon as possible and take your key documents (for example, passport) and necessary supplies (for example, medication) with you,” the FCDO adds.

“If you are not told to evacuate but are in an affected area, you should shelter in place. Close any windows and turn off air conditioning or HVAC systems. Ensure that you have enough basic supplies (including food, necessary medication and bottled water) given power may be affected and water supplies may be contaminated. If you cannot get basic supplies to shelter in place, you may need to evacuate.

“If you go outside, cover your skin and wear a mask or other face covering, as volcanic ash could irritate your skin and airways.”