Italy’s Mt. Etna erupts sending people running for safety as pyroclastic flows sweep down mountain

www.foxweather.com ^ | June 02, 2025 | Staff

[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.

[Magnum44]

[mewzilla]

Oh, fer Pietro’s sake.

This is what Etna does.

Over and over and over.

[Palio di Siena]

When the ash hits your eye like a big pizza pie - that’s …

[Mastador1]

Maybe even Satan found Francis indigestible?

[mewzilla]

Holy Tambora, Batman!

It’s the other way around, isn’t it...

[Red Badger]

I think they have that slightly bass-ackwards..............

[Magnum44]

[tired&retired]

In volcanology, a Strombolian eruption is a type of volcanic eruption with relatively mild blasts, typically having a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 1 or 2. Strombolian eruptions consist of ejection of incandescent cinders, lapilli, and volcanic bombs, to altitudes of tens to a few hundreds of meters. The eruptions are small to medium in volume, with sporadic violence.

[tired&retired]

This correlates with the prediction that the CME hitting earth would cause earthquake and volcanic activity. Big one hit yesterday.

[telescope115]

>GROAN<😖🙂

[Red Badger]

Sounds like a description of a holiday weekend in Chicago..............

[redangus]

This thing has been going off for a while now. Do the Italians actually let people go up an active volcano?

[shotgun]

Take me to the WOO!

[woodbutcher1963]

This past winter there were pictures of people skiing down the side of Mount Etna with lava flowing close by.

Etna erupts all the time. It is just part of life there for thousands of years. Every so often it erupts enough to cancel flights into Catania airport just south of there.

The real problem could come from the super volcano to the west of Naples. It is out at the north end of the bay of Naples. IF that goes, it will effect millions of people.

[MtnClimber]

Even on dormant volcanoes like Mt Hood, there are gas vents (you can see them from the discolored snow). The venting gas displaces air and sometimes people wonder into it and die of hypoxia.

[SunkenCiv]

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• Striking new video captures moment when Mount Etna recently erupted [01/21/2021]
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• VOLCANO WARNING Panic in Sicily as Mount Etna BLOWS in huge eruption on Italy holiday isle [02/28/2017]
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• Enormous monolith, carved 9350 years ago, found under Mediterranean Sea [08/08/2015]
• Europe's most active volcano, Mount Etna, erupts - video [06/16/2014]
• It's raining volcanic ash and rocks in Sicily. [video only] [11/26/2013]
• Mount Etna eruption lights up Sicilian sky [10/28/2013]
• Mount Etna eruption closes airports and 'knocks clocks 15 minutes fast' [07/13/2011]
• Mt Etna erupting live....now. (Sicily) [07/09/2011]
• Tsunami Waves Reasonably Likely To Strike Israel, Geo-archaeological Research Suggests [10/26/2009]
• Did Noah's Flood start in the Carmel? [12/10/2008]
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• Tsunami Or Melting Glaciers: What Caused Ancient Atlit To Sink? [06/04/2008]
• Lightning Bolts appear above volcano in Chile + Etna volcano rumbles back to life in Sicily [05/13/2008]
• GEOPHYSICS: Ancient Cataclysm Marred the Med [12/09/2006]
• Landslide At Mt. Etna Generated A Large Tsunami In The Mediterranean Sea Nearly 8,000 Years Ago [11/29/2006]
• Mt. Etna webcam (vanity) [09/12/2006]
• Etna Awakes With Storm Of Fire And Lava [07/17/2006]
• Massive underwater volcano discovered off Sicily [06/22/2006]
• Signs Of An Eruption [08/29/2003]
• MOUNT ETNA DANGER [02/06/2003]
• Etna's fresh activity keeps Sicily on tenterhooks [10/29/2002]
• Quake Rattles Erupting Etna [10/29/2002]
• Europe's Biggest Volcano Spews Lava As Earthquakes Signal Latest Return To Life [10/27/2002]

[SunkenCiv]

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.

Nice twofer. Etna, we're not so glad we met ya.

It's been active continously for at least 30K years and first emerged over 2.5 million years ago. Where one sees "dormancy" read "quiesence".

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[SunkenCiv]

LOL... his first visit there inspired “Angry Eyes”. ;^)

[dfwgator]

But at least he’s alright.

[napscoordinator]

They never be able to hike if fear were the focus. I lived near Aetna for five years. It erupts all the time and doesn’t give notice. Still safer than driving a car.