Posted on 10/29/2002 12:05:17 PM PST by cogitator
Etna's fresh activity keeps Sicily on tenterhooks ROME (AFP) Oct 29, 2002
A strong earth tremor rocked Sicily's lava-spewing Mount Etna on Tuesday, sowing panic in much of the island as it damaged dwellings and left more than 1,000 people homeless.
The temblor, measuring 4.3 on the Richter scale, sent residents running from homes and offices as Europe's highest volcano provided a grim backdrop to the panic, spewing lava and ash for a third consecutive day.
The strong tremor struck at 11:02 am (1002 GMT), as authorities insisted that residents had nothing to fear from the volcano itself, saying two slowly advancing streams of lava were still far from even the most remote dwellings.
In Catania, in the volcano's shadow, a witness told AFP by telephone that the tremor rattled buildings and sent office workers scurrying into the street in the city of 350,000 people.
Residents ran into the streets in the towns of Zafferana Etnea and Giarre as it rumbled, and children fled school buildings. Schools will remain closed Wednesday and Thursday while damage assessment is carried out, authorities said.
More than 100 homes were damaged in Santa Venerina, a town of some 6,000 people which bore the brunt of the damage, 23 kilometres (15 miles) northeast of Catania. Among those damaged was a carabinieri barracks.
Municipal authorities in the east coast seaside resort of Acireale requisitioned hotels to house those left homeless by the tremor. Aged and infirm people were treated for shock.
The tremor was the largest since the volcano surged to life late Saturday. It was followed within an hour by two other strong temblors of 3.6 and 4.0 respectively. Vulcanologists said the epicentre was several kilometres away from the mouth of the volcano and had not worsened the lava flow.
Italy's European Affairs Minister Rocco Buttiglione said the government would hold an emergency cabinet meeting on Tuesday to discuss the regional officials' call for a state of "natural disaster" to be declared, citing devastation of the local economy.
"We are concerned and we are trying to find out if this is as bad as the activity is going to get, followed by a gradual return to normality, or if we can expect even more worrying developments," Buttiglione said.
Though the eruption and the attendant tremors since early Sunday have spread fear in the communities on its slopes, local authorities continued to insist Tuesday that the volcano posed no danger to people or property.
"There is no danger to built-up areas or to human life," the deputy head of Catania prefecture Carmela Florena told AFP.
The volcano shot fresh spumes of molten rock and ash skywards overnight Monday, sending new lava streams down the southeastern flank of the mountain.
Another lava flow threatening the northeastern side of the mountain was of greater concern to the authorities after it ignited forest fires above the mountain village of Linguaglossa.
But Florena said the lava stream was "around six kilometres" (four miles) from the mountain town of more than 5,000 residents.
The molten river, which Monday had been flowing downhill at a rate of 10 metres (33 feet) a minute, had descended to an altitude of 1,500 metresfeet) on the 3,350 metre-high mountain, still at least 600 metres higher than the edge of the town.
"The lava has many more kilometres to travel before it begins to pose a problem for the population," said civil protection chief Guido Bertolaso.
Catania airport in the shadow of Etna will remain closed until Thursday, airport authorities said.
In a spectacular reprise of an eruption last year, Europe's highest volcano rumbled alive with a series of spectacular fire and ash-spewing explosions late Saturday and early Sunday.
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