Mount Etna in Italy erupted on Tuesday leaving lava and ash plummeting in the night sky. ABC News reported that roads that were near the volcano were covered with volcanic stones.
Mount Etna is the tallest active volcano in Europe at over 9,842 feet high. It's located near the east coast of Sicily and has the highest record of continuous eruption, reported livescience.com.
"Mount Etna is a series of nested stratovolcanoes with four distinct summit craters. There are two central craters, called Bocca Nuova and Voragine; the Northeast crater; and the newest Southeast crater, which was formed by an eruption in 1978. Strombolian eruptions, which produce ash, tephra and lava fountains, are fairly common in these craters," reported livescience.com
Livescience reported that the mountain's biggest feature is the Valle del Bove which means Valley of the Ox and is a caldera on the eastern slope. The mountain's first recorded eruption was in 425 B.C. Another one occurred in 122 B.C. which recordings show caused widespread damage to the town of Catania.
1669 was one of the mountains most catastrophic eruptions killing 1500 people and destroying the town of Nicoli completely.
"In Catania, the townspeople made one of the first known attempts at damage control by digging a trench to divert the lava slowly advancing upon the town. Unfortunately, the diverted lava then threatened the nearby town of Paterno, causing a brief battle that halted the attempt. Lava overtopped the Catania city wall and obliterated half the town again," reported livescience.com.
The moutain has continued to erupt throughout the years. According to ancient Greek mythology, the mountain served as a prison for Typhon who was a titan that tried to kill Zeus. Zues defended him and trapped him under the moutain forever, thus the volcanic eruptions showing his anger.
In 2011 a major eruption caused European airports to close down in 2011 when volcano fumes made it impossible for planes to travel. This latest Mount Etna eruption has not, thus far caused any disruption in plane travel.
See the amazing video here:
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
