Italy's (second) most famous volcano, Mt. Etna, has been quite busy while I've been off in California. Many of you have been following Etna on the webcams and leaving lots of comments about the impressive activity.
A brief summary:
Etna has experienced a number of eruptive episodes over the last 2 weeks - paroxysms as they are called by Dr. Boris Behncke. Some were quite small, while others have been downright amazing, with towering (upwards of 350-m tall) fire fountains from the Southeast Crater of the volcano. Others have produced lava flows on the volcano and ash fall as well. This activity brings the grand total of episodes that Etna has experienced this year to 8, making 2011 quite an active year for the Sicilian volcano.
The latest eruptive episode started on July 30. You can check out some video from the eruption (courtesy of Dr. Behncke) that shows just ...
