Posted on 06/02/2025 6:17:09 AM PDT by Red Badger
SICILY, Italy – Italy’s Mount Etna volcano violently erupted on Monday, sending plumes of toxic ash and smoke billowing into the sky as people on the mountain ran for safety to escape the danger.
According to Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), activity at Mount Etna on Sicily began during the pre-dawn hours on Monday and culminated with "intense and almost continuous" strombolian explosions hours later.
The INGV said that strombolian activity is a relatively low-level volcanic eruption, during which a modest amount of energy is released.
Dramatic photos and video showed dangerous pyroclastic flows racing down the volcano as the eruption intensified, and INGV officials said it didn’t appear as though it crossed the edge of the Valley of the Leo.
Officials said the pyroclastic flow was probably produced by the collapse of material from the northern side of the Southeast Crater.
Other photos and video show people on the volcano at the time running for safety as smoke and ash rise into the sky and begin to move down the side of the mountain.
The INGV said the explosive activity from the Southeast Crater has since transitioned into lava fountains, and ashfall was reported in some areas, such as Piano Vetore.
No other information was immediately available.
Mount Etna, a highly active volcano worldwide, sits atop the convergent plate margin where the African Plate meets the Eurasian Plate. This towering peak stands as one of Europe's tallest active volcanoes and the highest point in Italy south of the Alps, currently exceeding 11,000 feet in height.
Mount Etna is also believed to have the longest documented history of eruptions among all volcanoes, with records dating back to as early as 425 B.C.
Is there a Mass Presentation Darwin Award?...............
What the Hell did they think was going to happen? That the lava would erupt in a different direction?
They might be able to appease the volcano and make it stop erupting by throwing leftists into the inferno. I am not positive it would work, but it is worth a try.
Living in Florida, I know tourists do some really dumb things, but THIS HAS GOT TO BE THE DUMBEST.................
“Hey, Florence, lets go hike up an active volcano! Get some really cool selfies!”..........
Etna, I’m not glad I met ya.
Tourists.
Make them an offer they can’t refuse
Did they not stop to thing that it could belch out a toxic cloud of superheated gas and kill them all in a few seconds?..................
😁.........................
Hephaestus getting back to work.
Don’t the people in the picture have to be thrown into the volcano so it will stop erupting?
They’re so selfish!
/s
Leave the gun. Take the Stromboli...............
They might be able to appease the volcano and make it stop erupting by throwing leftists into the inferno. I am not positive it would work, but it is worth a try.
If it just saves one life!
Yep, peering into a highly active volcano isn't the same as snapping photos of Old Faithful.
They checked other options.......not a Virgin in Town...
What about the geep?
They do the same in Hawaii, go up and look into the open volcano.
Betting the farm.
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