Italy's Etna Volcano Awakens with New Explosions in the New Year

The vapor-and-ash plumes from Etna on January 26, 2017.Boris Behncke/INGVEtna in Italy had a real quiet 2016. However, it appears that 2017 won't follow the same path. Since January 23, the summit craters on Etna have been restless and now strombolian explosions have been rocking the South East Crater. In fact, two distinct vapor-and-ash plumes are active on the Sicilian volcano. This is the first sign of magma at the surface at Etna in over eight months (which is a long time for the nearly-constantly restless volcano). The current eruption (termed "mild" by the folks at the INGV's Etna Observatory) first started with loud explosions and incandescent blocks on January 20. By January 23, full-fledged strombolian explosions were occurring from a vent between some of the older South East Crater vents. On top of that, glowing and a small plume was noted from the