Mount Etna erupts again! And this time round the plumes of smoke emitted by the volcano are a sight to behold, as you can see from the eye-witness video above. The surrounding Italian towns and villages,which witnessed the spectacle, also felt the effects of the ash which rained down in the area.
Mount Etna is Europe’s largest and most lively volcano, regularly spewing ash and smoke; the last major eruption was in 1992. The other thing about Mount Etna is that it has the longest recorded history of any volcano in the world having been well documented for thousands of years.
The first Mount Etna eruption was recorded in 1500 BC. Since then the volcano has seen another 200 eruptions, with varying degrees of ash and inconvenience to local residents in surrounding areas.
Mount Etna is also notorious among poets and writers. Back in Catania in around 29 BC the poet Virgil wrote that the volcano blocked out the sun for a few days and damaged nearby villages .
There were also a number of major eruptions which have been recorded throughout history. Major eruptions at Mount Etna were recorded in 40 AD, 1169, 1185 and 1669. In the 1992 eruption the nearby town of Zafferana was nearly destroyed by hot lava.
Thankfully in in the latest Mount Etna eruption no injuries or major damage to property was reported, although local residents and authorities are remaining cautious in case more lava and ash is spewed.