Catania dusted in ash after Etna eruption

Rome, Feb 17 (efe-epa).- The Sicilian city of Catania and its suburbs on Wednesday awoke to a dusting of ash following the recent eruption of Mount Etna.

Etna, Europe’s most active volcano, erupted on Tuesday evening, sending a kilometer-high column of smoke and ash into the sky for around one hour. Authorities temporarily closed Catania’s airport and prohibited the use of bicycles and motorbikes on roads affected by the fallout.

Catania’s institute of geophysics and volcanology said that a tongue of lava descended into the uninhabited Valle del Bove on the slopes of Etna.

There have been hundreds of eruptions similar to Tuesday’s one since 1977, including the exceptional series of 66 eruptions between January and August 2000 and about 50 between 2011 and 2013. EFE-EPA

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