Posted on 07/17/2006 6:43:31 PM PDT by blam
Etna awakes with storm of fire and lava
By Malcolm Moore, Rome Correspondent
(Filed: 18/07/2006)
Mount Etna, the largest active volcano in Europe, threw fire and rocks more than 800ft into the air yesterday.
Spectacular: The explosions are coming from two holes near to the top of the volcano
Etna, which is almost 11,000ft high, sits 18 miles from Catania on Sicily's east coast. Several villages lie on its lower slopes, but the Italian government said yesterday that the lava was flowing away from them, and that there was no immediate danger.
The explosions are coming from two holes near to the top of the volcano, creating a lava field more than a mile long which is flowing at a rate faster than 90 cubic feet a minute. Even though the eruption has continued for three days, scientists said it had lost little of its force.
Etna is in an almost constant state of activity, but is not considered particularly dangerous and its slopes are home to farms and vineyards that make use of the rich volcanic soil. The last major eruption was in 2002.
We're going to have to get control of these things to stop greenhouse gases. /sarc
Bush's fault ;-)
The Bush/Rove Tsunami and Volcano Generators have gone berserk today. They'll have to send 'em back to Skull&Bones for repairs;)
OK, I know that this stuff operates on many different fault systems, but what is going on the past couple days? Volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis, oh my.
Like the article says, Etna is usually doing something.
Its the volcanoes which are not "dead" but dormant which bear watching - like St. Helens and Vesuvius.
Etna is in Sicily. The only other two active volcanoes in Europe are Stromboli in the Liparian Islands off northern Sicily and Vesuvius in the Bay of Naples somewhat north.
I think I read somewhere that the ancient Greeks believed Hephaestos, the God of smiths had his shop under Etna and the fire came from his forge.
I read somewhere that the Naples seaport is rising due to the caldera that underlies the region and fuels Vesuvius. It might be the presage of one gigantic blow!
Maybe its awarning from God to knock this S#!= off down here
I was just saying the same thing on another thread.
Wars, rumors of wars, volcanic activity, earthquakes and tsunamis...what's next?
The WORST... HILLERY!!!!!
St Helens is not dormant, it has been in a constant mild eruptive state since oct. 2004
http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/volcanocams/msh/
Before I die, I would like to see Etna and Kilauea.
Yuppers...
Heh-heh! Talk about your constant mild eruptive states!
(Go look at the Hillary caption thread. It's very funny.)
It must be pretty "mild" if they permit climbing.
But thanks for that site. It really is neat.
ROFLMAO! You owe me a new keyboard!
There are no unusually high levels of wars, erupting volcanoes, earthquakes, or tsunamis at the moment.
In fact, for most of those, activity is below normal.
There goes the Ozone layer. Super massive CO2 exercise. Where's algore when we need him?
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