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New paroxysm at Etna, 18 February 2011

On the early morning of 18 February 2011, 35 days after the latest paroxysm at the Southeast Crater on Etna, a new episode of vigorous eruptive activity started at the same crater.

 

Only that the 12-13 January 2011 event occurred during the most favorable weather conditions one could imagine. Today is the exact contrary - there is zero visibility. All that we know about this new episode is based on instrumental data, which is received in real-time in the control room (sala operativa) of the INGV Catania, shown in the photograph above at the height of this new paroxysm.

 

I have placed a number of notes to explain what can be seen on the individual computer screens in the image.

 

The paroxysm continued strongly until about 14:30 GMT (local time +1), then sharply decreased. There are (so far unconfirmed) reports of light ash falls in various sectors of the volcano. On the contrary, a lava flow surely travelled down the western flank of the Valle del Bove, and was captured in a spectacular photograph by Héloïse Picot (see link in the comments).

 

The official report about today's event (plus some news from Stromboli as well) on the INGV-Catania web site

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Uploaded on February 18, 2011
Taken on February 18, 2011