Volcanic ash rains down

VOLCANIC ash fell from the sky on the Italian island of Sicily on Sunday, May 21, after Mount Etna erupted again.

According to Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, this occurred in at least one town located on the slopes of Europe’s most active volcano. Residents of Catania, eastern Sicily’s largest city, also found ash raining down on them.

As a result of reduced visibility, officials at the island’s Catania Airport grounded all flights. The weather in Sicily was already wet and cloudy so the materials thrown up by the volcano only added to the murky skies.

A post on the facility’s Facebook page read:

“Catania Airport: operations suspended until tomorrow morning, Monday May 22. Any updates will be communicated in due time.”

Sunday’s eruption should not have come as a surprise to anybody in Sicily. An alert was issued on Thursday May 18 by Italy’s Civil Protection Agency. It warned residents of possible ‘sudden’ variations’ in Etna’s mood after in ­ creased seismic activity was registered in recent days.

Etna is considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site and towers impressively above the Mediterranean holiday destination at a height of 3,330 metres (10,925 ft).

The last major eruption however was back in 1992.