Italy Stromboli does not come to rest - Etna also spits
On the Italian Mediterranean island of Stromboli, the volcano of the same name is not coming to rest. The highest alert level is red due to concerns of a violent eruption. Huge amounts of lava are pouring out of the crater of the mountain, which is more than 920 meters high, making its way down several hundred meters into the sea.
05.07.2024, 10:46
SDA
The island between Sicily and the Italian mainland is covered in a huge cloud of smoke and fumes. At the same time, Mount Etna on Sicily is also active again.
On Stromboli, the authorities called on the population to keep a close eye on the situation and to follow all instructions from the civil defense. The Italian Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (IGNV) had previously detected a sudden increase in seismic activity. Only a few hundred people live on the island, which is part of the Aeolian Islands. However, many tourists from the mainland or from Sicily travel there by sea to see the volcano or to climb it.
Stromboli is also known from literature and film: In Jules Verne's 19th century adventure novel "Journey to the Center of the Earth", the book's heroes are catapulted back up through Stromboli's crater into the open air at the end. Italian director Roberto Rossellini shot the classic film "Stromboli" there shortly after the Second World War, with his future wife Ingrid Bergman in the leading role.
Almost 200 kilometers away on the much larger island of Sicily, Mount Etna attracted attention. A shower of ash fell on the nearby city of Catania, prompting the local airport to ban take-offs and landings for several hours. The ash particles covered both the airplanes and the runway. There was also gray-black dust in the streets and on the houses in other towns.
Etna continued to spew fountains of lava into the night. At times, there was a cloud above the volcano that reached almost five kilometers into the air. The second-highest alert level, orange, was in force in the region. According to the IGNV, Mount Etna then slowly calmed down again. Etna, which is around 3350 meters high, is Europe's largest active volcano. Its exact height is constantly changing due to eruptions and cinder cones.
