Perilous
Times
Italy's Mount Etna on eruption alert after brief activity
* From: AAP
* January 13, 2011 9:42PM
ITALY'S Mount Etna has come back to life with a brief eruption
that sent lava down its slopes and a cloud of ash into the sky,
forcing the overnight closure of a nearby airport.
The volcanology institute in Catania, eastern Sicily, said today
that a two-hour eruption overnight sent a little stream of lava
down the eastern slope of the mountain.
Nobody was injured.
The volcano also spewed out ash, which rained down and forced
Catania's Fontanarossa airport to shut down overnight, cancelling
or diverting a few domestic flights.
Officials said the airport reopened early today.
Etna is Europe's most active volcano.
Its last major eruption was in 1992.