Mount Etna continued to spew molten lava and a giant plume of smoke on Thursday in one of the most spectacular eruptions of recent years. Images from NASA鈥檚 Terra satellite reveals that the plume now extends hundreds of miles to the south, carrying ash to North Africa.
Local villages were also rocked by earthquakes, caused by magma shifting below the volcano. A thousand people have fled their homes and the Italian government has declared a state of emergency in the area.
Lava has surged down the north and south sides of the mountain and emergency workers dug channels to divert the northern flow from the town of Linguaglossa. Magma has been thrown up to 150 metres into the air and ash has rained down on Catania, Sicily鈥檚 second largest town.
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But the two main lava flows produced by the volcano have begun to slow, raising hopes that the worst of the eruption may be over.
The first eruptions occurred on Sunday, accompanied by earthquakes. The strongest tremors were felt in the town of Santa Venerina, southeast of Etna, on Tuesday, and measured 4.4 on the Richter scale. By co-incidence, a large earthquake struck the town of San Giuliano di Puglia, hundreds of miles away in southern Italy, on Thursday.
Etna is Europe鈥檚 most volatile volcano and is almost constantly active. The last activity was felt in July and August 2001 and the last major eruption was in 1992. Etna exhibits two kinds of eruptive activity: explosive eruptions from three summit craters and smaller eruptions from fissures on the mountain鈥檚 flanks.