As I’m fond of pointing out, every time we humans muster a wee bit of hubris over how big and important we are, nature has a way of putting us in our place. This can come in the form of a hurricane, an earthquake, a major snowstorm, or a wildfire.
In Sicily, at the moment, it’s a volcano. Tourists are fleeing that island’s Mt. Etna volcano as the mountain spews a pyroclastic cloud miles into the sky.
Italian authorities said a sudden and powerful eruption at Mount Etna on Monday forced tourists to flee the volcano as clouds of ash, gas, and volcanic rock exploded into the sky. Footage from the scene showed guides rushing dozens of visitors downhill from the blast as a pyroclastic column “several kilometers high” rose from the southeastern crater.
The eruption began overnight and intensified around midday, producing what officials called a “significant increase in volcanic tremor” and a dangerous mix of superheated gas, ash, and debris surging down the slopes. The Sicilian Civil Protection Agency confirmed that all tourists on the mountain were safely evacuated, and no injuries were reported.
The Etna Observatory of Italy’s national seismological agency said there was a “pyroclastic flow, likely caused by a collapse of material on the northern flank of the Southeast Crater” of the volcano.
A pyroclastic flow is a mixture of superheated steam, dust, ash, and gas that can travel down slopes far faster than any humans in its way can flee. This time, though, it looks as though Sicily has dodged that red-hot bullet.
The National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology said preliminary data point to a partial collapse of the volcano’s southeastern crater wall, triggering the eruption. While Mt. Etna is among the world’s most active volcanoes, officials said this was its most intense activity since 2014. Lava flows began around 1 p.m. local time and remained confined to the summit area.
Airports in Catania and Palermo remained open as the ash plume blew away from population centers. Still, roads leading up the volcano were closed to prevent interference with emergency responders. “With knowledge, preparation and humility, it’s possible to explore this landscape safely,” said local guide Alessio Zocco, who described the moment as “dramatic but short-lived.”
You can view the eruption for yourself, in real time. Note that, as of this writing, it’s nighttime in Sicily, so not all that much is visible:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=live
Mt. Etna does this with annoying regularity.
See Also: Signs of Reawakening: Italian Supervolcano Could Send World Spinning Into Chaos
‘Chaos Would Reign’: The Alaska Volcano That Could Shut Down the Northern Hemisphere
Throughout history, Mt. Etna has gone off many times. Since World War 2, it has erupted in 1949, 1971, 1979, 1981, 1983, and 1991-1993. In the 2002-2003 eruptions, the mountain destroyed some tourist stations on the slopes, although they had been evacuated. The worst such eruption was in 1669, which produced lava flows that destroyed 10 villages on the mountain’s south slope and threatened the town of Catania before being diverted into the sea by the city walls. One tongue of lava broke into the city but stopped just short of the Benedictine Monastery; draw what conclusions from that you like.
Mt. Etna is Europe’s most active volcano. A pyroclastic flow, like the one we are seeing today, could do enormous damage were it to land in the wrong area.
Once again, nature has made us feel kind of small and given geologists something more to study.
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