The Mount Etna volcano in Sicily, Italy, erupted for the fifteenth time this year late on Wednesday.

Throughout 2011, activity at Sicily's Mount Etna has been characterised by paroxysms: short, violent bursts of activity. Each event has included volcanic tremors, ash emissions, and lava flows centered around the New Southeast Crater, just below the summit.


According to the Istituto Nazionale Di Geofisica E Vulcanologia: "The latest eruption lasted just over half an hour, but was more violent than those of previous paroxysms. Two small lava flows were formed and these have spilled on the upper part of the western wall of the Valle del Bove. The ash cloud was carried by the wind toward the south-west."

Image
© Earth Observatory / NASAThis natural-color satellite view of Mount Etna in Sicily shows the volcano on September 8, 2011, just as a paroxysm subsided. The image was acquired by the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) aboard the Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite.
Mount Etna is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and is in an almost constant state of activity. On 12-13 January 2011 lava fountaining occurred from the vent on the east flank of Etna's Southeast Crater cone, lasting more than 1.5 hours. Italian Authorities were forced to temporarily close airports for a couple of hours while the ash cloud cleared.