Recently, Mount Etna on the island of Sicily in Italy suddenly erupted violently, with satellite images capturing lava meandering down the volcano’s slopes like a “river of fire.” Additionally, a significant amount of volcanic ash, smoke, and gases drifted in another direction.
The European Space Agency (ESA) shared photos of the eruption taken by its Sentinel-2 satellite on June 2nd. At that time, Europe’s largest active volcano erupted large amounts of ash, gases, and lava unexpectedly.
The ESA highlighted that the photos vividly showcased the lava flow and significant plumes of smoke and volcanic ash. According to data from Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, Mount Etna has not experienced such a large-scale eruption since 2014. Observatories reported that a partial collapse occurred in the northeastern part of the volcano’s crater.
During this eruption, the volcanic ash column from Mount Etna reached a height of 4 miles (6.5 kilometers), composed of poisonous sulfur dioxide that can be lethal at high concentrations. However, the eruption ceased within six hours, indicating that the impact of the ash column on the environment was temporary.
In the shared ESA photos, the scorching lava was surrounded by dark streaks extending towards the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. These dark streaks may be mistaken for enormous shadows cast by Mount Etna’s peaks, but they are, in fact, formations of solidified lava remnants from previous eruptions.
Former Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield shared the photos on social media on June 3rd, expressing his amazement at witnessing volcanic eruptions from space. He described the eruption of Mount Etna as particularly intense, reflecting on the fragile nature of life on the thin, cooling crust above a liquid-rock underworld.
Previously reported by Epoch Times, Mount Etna is among the few volcanoes worldwide known for producing smoke rings, and the frequency of these eruptions is remarkable. Scientists noted that the smoke rings emitted by the volcano last year were highly unusual.
These smoke rings, known as volcanic vortex rings, are actually composed of condensed gases and water vapor. They form when gases ascend from deep underground and are released through the volcano’s vent. If these rings rise without dispersing due to wind, they become visible to observers.
Over the past century, Mount Etna has undergone more than thirty different eruptive cycles. The volcano is exceptionally active due to its location at the junction of the African and Eurasian tectonic plates, with vast accumulations of volcanic gases within its interior. In 1971, its lava flow destroyed orchards and vineyards, posing a threat to several villages in the surroundings.