ITALY: SICILY'S MOUNT ETNA CONTINUES BILLOWING SMOKE, ASH AND LAVA

Record ID: 649099

  • Title: ITALY: SICILY'S MOUNT ETNA CONTINUES BILLOWING SMOKE, ASH AND LAVA
  • Date: 19th July 2001
  • Summary: (U4) CATANIA, ITALY (JULY 19 AND 20, 2001) (REUTERS) 1. LV MOUNT ETNA ERUPTING 0.13 2. PAN EXTERIORS OF THE DESERTED SAPIENZA TOURIST REFUGE AT 1950 METRES, WITH ETNA ERUPTING IN THE BACKGROUND 0.23 3. PAN/SV INTERIOR OF DESERTED SHOP (5 SHOTS) 0.50 4. LV/SV VARIOUS OF VOLCANO ERUPTING (3 SHOTS) 1.29 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 3rd August 2001 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: CATANIA, ITALY
  • Country: Italy
  • Reuters ID: LVA9KX9F1EJP07SWAUUL5BYDN500
  • Story Text: Spectacular eruptions of Sicily's Mount Etna volcano
    continued through the night after the skiing area, a major
    summer tourist site, was abandoned for safety.



    Etna has been billowing smoke and ash over eastern
    Sicily for days and on Wednesday (July 18) a new fissure
    cracked open, sending a lava flow crawling down the volcano's
    southern slope.

    Authorities say the population is not at risk for now, but
    the head of Italy's civil protection agency, Franco Barberi,
    said a state of emergency will be declared in the area.

    This would allow authorities on the Italian island to get
    army back-up or extra funding quickly if the situation gets
    worse.

    The mayor of Nicolosi, which is about 15 km (10 miles)
    downhill from the crest of the flow, said he feared the town
    could be in danger in the next week and asked for help to
    divert the lava.

    But a police official from the town of Catania, which lies
    at the foot of Etna, said the lava flow was slowing down as it
    hit less steep slopes lower down the mountain.

    Hundreds of people have headed to Etna to watch the
    eruption, but they have been urged to stay away from the lava
    streams.

    Emergency authorities are building up mud walls to guide
    the lava flow on a safe course and they are spraying the
    boiling magma with water.

    The last time Etna posed a threat was in 1992, when lava
    streams headed towards Zafferana, a town of 7,000 people
    crouched on Etna's lower slopes. The Italian military had to
    use controlled explosions to divert the flow.


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