A lava fountain erupted from Mount Etna in Sicily on Thursday, sending a bright orange glow from the crater and down the mountainside.
Black ash from the eruption fell on towns at the foot of the volcano, and in video footage, residents are seen sweeping the thick layer of dust from streets and sidewalks.
Activity also intensified earlier this week at Stromboli, a nearby volcano in the Aeolian Islands, with huge clouds of ash and debris. fall into the sea.
Salvatore Cocina, head of Sicily’s civil protection agency, said authorities were assessing the possibility that a large amount of lava falling into the sea from the Stromboli volcano could trigger a tsunami.
Day trip boats have been stopped and the Italian Navy is ready to carry out evacuations if necessary, he said.
Stromboli and Mount Etna are still active and erupt regularly, but they are at a particularly high level of activity, said Claudio Peri, inspector of the Sicilian fire service.
Marco Neri, an Italian volcanologist, said the crater where the lava flows from Etna had been dormant for about four years but began erupting about two weeks ago, culminating in Thursday’s explosion.
The ash cloud reached an altitude of nearly 15,000 feet, he added, with winds then blowing the ash cloud over surrounding towns.
The mayor of the Sicilian port city of Catania, Enrico Trantino, imposed a two-day ban on motorbikes on Friday due to the risks associated with the presence of ash, and set a speed limit of about 20 miles per hour for cars.
The runway at Catania airport was unusable on Friday due to volcanic ash, the airport posted on social mediaand added that arrivals and departures would be delayed until at least the afternoon.
