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Volcanic lightning streaks sky over fiery Mount Etna


Nepalnews
2022 Feb 12, 11:39, Rome
Smoke billows from the Mt. Etna volcano, as seen from Nicolosi, Sicily, southern Italy, Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Salvatore Allegra)

A particularly powerful eruption of Mount Etna has created a volcanic storm that sent bolts of lightning dramatically across the sky over eastern Sicily.

A volcanic thunderstorm over Mt. Etna, Sicily, Italy, generates volcanic lightning during an eruption, early Friday, Feb. 11, 2022. Colliding particles of volcanic ash generate static electricity that discharges within the volcanic plume. (AP Photo/Emilio Messina)
A volcanic thunderstorm over Mt. Etna, Sicily, Italy, generates volcanic lightning during an eruption, early Friday, Feb. 11, 2022. Colliding particles of volcanic ash generate static electricity that discharges within the volcanic plume. (AP Photo/Emilio Messina)

A volcano expert with Italy’s National Institute for Geophysics and Volcanology, said Friday that such volcanic storms are rare but can happen in particularly violent eruptions or with volcanoes located near the sea.

The volcanologist, Boris Behnke, said that volcanic lightning was observed once over Etna in 2021, and before that, in 2015.

Lava flows from the Mt. Etna volcano, as seen from Nicolosi, Sicily, southern Italy, Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Salvatore Allegra)
Lava flows from the Mt. Etna volcano, as seen from Nicolosi, Sicily, southern Italy, Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Salvatore Allegra)

The eruption shortly before midnight Thursday didn’t cause any damage. But it did shoot ash 10 kilometers (more than 6 miles) into the air above sea level.

Etna is one of Europe’s most active volcanoes, and its eruptions aren’t infrequent.

Smoke billows from the Mt. Etna volcano, as seen from Nicolosi, Sicily, southern Italy, Thursday, Feb. 10 , 2022. (AP Photo/Salvatore Allegra)
Smoke billows from the Mt. Etna volcano, as seen from Nicolosi, Sicily, southern Italy, Thursday, Feb. 10 , 2022. (AP Photo/Salvatore Allegra)

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volcanic ashes Volcano Mount Etna Rome natural disaster eruption Sicily
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