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Sicily’s Mt. Etna Spews SUV-Sized Rocks in Dangerous Eruption

Europe’s largest volcano has entered a new phase of eruption, closing the airport in Catania and threatening nine towns on its flanks.

A new eruptive phase of one of the most active volcanoes in the world has disrupted daily life on the Italian island of Sicily. Mt. Etna, which is Europe’s largest active volcano, sprang back to life over the weekend, sending a cloud of ash nearly 10 miles into the air and blanketing area towns with ash. On Tuesday, the volcano turned even more violent, spewing out burning rocks the size of SUVs, according to the Etna Observatory, which warned that the activity mimics a 1669 eruption that obliterated nine towns on its flanks (all of which have been rebuilt in defiance of the volcano’s potential wrath.) Etna has been relatively quiet after a summer of eruptions. Civil protection authorities say they may need to evacuate some residents of the volcano, which is dotted with rooftops sticking out of lava from previous eruptions.