Friday, January 14, 2011

ETNA

Grumpy old Etna has been at it again and I just have to post these spectacular videos of Wednesday night's eruption.  No one was hurt but as a precaution, Catania's Fontanarossa Airport was closed for several hours. Things have now quietened down but volcanologists are watching the situation closely, as always.



13 comments:

Betty said...

I heard about the eruption and saw pictures on the morning news today. I just hope things quiet down and no one gets hurt. We went up on the top of Mt. Etna back in 1970. Actually, I was seven months pregnant and when we got to the ski lodge there was an ice storm. We were in a group and no one was dressed correctly. We rented heavy coats at the lodge and made our way up. I was slipping and sliding, so I turned back about five minutes before the rest of the group got to the very top. I didn't think it was worth falling in my condition, but my husband went to the very top and they got to put their hands over the smoke and feel the warmth. I'm not sure they let people do that anymore. I'm sorry I missed the experience.

James Higham said...

This was happening two years ago. A constant threat.

J. M. P. said...

I saw it on the news and I was relieved when they said there was no danger for Sicilians. Even so, take care!

Leslie: said...

When I was there in Nov.'06 I saw flames shooting out from my vantage point in Taormina. It was very exciting, but this looks like there was more danger. Hope things settle down.

Unknown said...

I can't believe I slept through the whole thing...it would have been my first opportunity to see the orange glow from afar with my own eyes...frightening and spectacular at the same time!

Rachel Cotterill said...

Oh, wow, I'd love to see that! :)

RNSANE said...

That is really something! The two times I was in Taormina, Sicily for the day, on a Mediterranean cruise, Etna was smoking. It makes me wonder if Pompei could ever erupt again!

Gledwood said...

Have you ever read Lovers and Gamblers by Jackie Collins, it's a seminal work of English fiction, in more ways than one. You should recommend it to your students.

Anyway the main character Al King has a very drab but actually quite interesting wife called Edna.

Why didn't they name it Mount Edna?

I sent Jackie Collins a message on her blog saying how much I loved Edna but the cow never responded to me!

Gledwood said...

Isn't there another volcano called Stromboli? There's actually a type of eruption named after it "a strombolian eruption" meaning rocks being chucked out rather than larva flows etc etc. Also a Vesuvian eruption means what people think of as a volcanic eruption the full peakl-exploding shebang!

Gledwood said...

yes it is a peakl, never a peak that explodes

now the word recognition is saying "bursti"

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Thanks for that story, Betty. You were brave to go so near when you were pregnant! I have never been up as I am asthmatic. Hi, James. This was a more spectacular eruption, though. Hi, Josep. Thank you for your concern. We are all OK! Hi, Leslie. It has settled down now. Hi, Lost. I can sleep through anything so I would probably have missed it too if I were nearer! Me, too, Rachel - from a safe distance! Hi, Carmen. It's possible, I think. Hi, Gleds. You do make me laugh! Mount Edna.... Yes, Stromboli is a small island in the Aeolians, off Sicily and the volcano there is active. There's a film of the same name. An appropriate word verif!

Whispering Walls said...

Bella though

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Yes, it is, in a scary sort of way, WW.

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