- Title: ITALY: LAVA FLOW FROM MOUNT ETNA INCREASES.
- Date: 30th July 2001
- Summary: (W5) MOUNT ETNA, SICILY, ITALY (JULY 30, 2001) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SHOTS) 1. LV: VOLCANO AS BILLOWS OF SMOKE IN AIR AS LONG RIVER OF LAVA FLOWING DOWN FROM ELEVATION OF 2,100 METRES 0.10 2. LV/GV/CU: TRAIL OF LAVA FLOWING DOWN MOUNTAIN; LAVA EXPLODING FROM TWO SEPARATE FRACTURES; LAVA FLOWING DOWN; CLOSER VIEW OF LAVA; EXPLOSION OF LAVA; LAVA FLOW DOWN MOUNTAIN (13 SHOTS) 1.36 (W5) MOUNT ETNA, SICILY, ITALY (JULY 31, 2001) (REUTERS) 3. LV: SAPIENZA TOURIST REFUGE 1.41 4. LV/GV: FIREMEN WATERING HOT LAVA AROUND CENTRE/ BULLDOZER CLEARING DRIED LAVA (2 SHOTS) 1.51 5. MV/GV: LAVA IN FRONT OF BUILDING; FIREMAN ON BALCONY DOUSING WITH HOSE; LAVA BEHIND BUILDING AND SOUVENIR SHOP (6 SHOTS) 2.25 6. LV: ETNA ERUPTING 2.30 (W5) CATANIA, SICILY, ITALY (JULY 31, 2001) (REUTERS) 7. GV: NATIONAL MONITORING CENTRE 2.36 8. MV/CU: DRUM RECORDERS MEASURING SEISMIC AND VOLCANIC TREMORS; LIVE CAMERA ON ETNA BEING VIEWED IN MONITORING CENTRE (3 SHOTS) 2.52 9. MV: (SOUNDBITE)(ENGLISH) DANILO RAITANO, RESEARCH SPECIALIST AT MONITORING CENTRE SAYING "This is a new particular situation, some researchers say that only one century ago there was a particular situation like that, but we have few news about this because there are too many systems at the same time that are active and it is very strange." 3.18 10. GV/MV: RESEARCHERS STUDYING DATA FROM VOLCANO (3 SHOTS) 3.32 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 14th August 2001 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: MOUNT ETNA AND CATANIA, SICILY, ITALY
- Country: Italy
- Reuters ID: LVACS65RH4HEWP5I6FW0J9I2DBYZ
- Story Text: Rivers of molten rock have continued to flow down Mount
Etna overnight, surrounding a tourist refuge on the volcano.
Specialists say that lava is coming out of five different
openings of the volcano, which is a situation they have not
seen before and is extremely difficult to assess.
An increased lava flow from Mount Etna overnight
surrounded a tourist refuge on the volcano on Tuesday (July
30) where workmen had been relentlessly building barricades
for the last few days to save it from being engulfed.
With the use of water hoses and bulldozers, civil
protection officers and firemen barely managed to keep the
lava outside the centre. All night rivers of molten rock
flowed down the mountain.
The Sapienza tourist refuge centre full of restaurants and
souvenir shops was threatened when the lava flow came straight
in its direction. The lava surrounded the centre, forcing
bulldozers, cranes and water cannons to work into the night
and the next day to divert it. Lava piled into one building
forcing firemen to battle the lava from the balcony of the
building.
Danillo Raitano, a specialist at a 24-hour national
volcano monitoring centre in Catania, said the lava
surrounding the refuge centre is from two rivers of lava from
separate openings on the mountain which have overlapped, the
one pushing the other, and was a growing source of concern .
Illustrating the long line on a map, Raitano said there
are five active openings on Etna, which researchers say they
havent seen for a century creating a situation that is not
always easy to monitor. He said it was difficult to assess the
danger as they can never be sure of the energy of the volcano.
"This is a new particular situation, some researchers say
that only one century ago there was a particular situation
like that, but we have few news about this because there are
too many systems at the same time that are active and it is
very strange," Raitano said.
The centre records seismic activity and volcanic tremors,
while specialists measure the lavas movement on a daily basis
on the ground or by helicopter. Using this information
specialists at the centre have been advising civil protection
workers battling the flow.
The first lava flow originated at a height of 2,700
metres, while the second erupted at 2,100 metres. The two
together have travelled a distance of some ten kilometres down
the mountain and across the valley base.
The danger of the flow of lava depends on the elevation,
the steeper the elevation the faster the lava flows, but at
the moment, the lava, which is some four kilometres from the
nearest town of Nicolosi, is moving at a very slow rate.
Because of Tuesday's heavy lava flow, Catania airport had
been temporarily closed to clear the volcanic ash from the
runway.
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