Mount Etna decided to frighten the people living around it for the first time this year. On January 5, it erupted, generating an ash cloud that currently rises about 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) into the atmosphere.
Traffic through the Fontanarossa di Catania airport, in Italy, was immediately limited, due to growing concerns that airborne particulate matter could jeopardize the safety of airplanes and passengers alike.
According to reports from
Repubblica, it would appear that the eruption occurs from a single crater on the south-east side of the mountain, at an altitude of about 3,000 meters (9,840 feet). The lava flow is currently flowing harmlessly in an unpopulated valley.
Etna, an active stratovolcano in Sicily, is extremely active, erupting regularly over short intervals. It is also one of the very few volcanoes ever recorded to release smoke rings.
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