Etna erupts. Italy scared

On Sicily, Mount Etna began erupting. The largest volcano in Europe could become this season second Eyjafjallajökull. Minor eruptions of Mount Etna occur regularly, but present, it seems, promises to become one of the most powerful in the past few decades.

Etna began to erupt on the night from 11 to 12 May 2011. As a result of the eruption volcanology specialists recorded creation of a new crater on the eastern slope of the Mountain - as volcano is called on Sicily.

As a result of the eruption of Mount Etna was paralyzed work of the second largest airport of Sicily in Catania. On May 12 airport administration announced about suspension of receiving of all flights. Seven runways of the Catania Fontanarossa were filled with ashes. As a result of concerted actions of airport personnel runways were cleared in a short time. On May 13 at 6.00 Catania airport announced that it will resume air service. At the same time during the downtime in total were canceled about 80 flights on Sicily.

It is worth noting that eruption of the Mount Etna troubled operating of other air terminals. “Mayak” radio station reported that in the airport of Bergamo, which is a "budget air gates" to Milan, about 150 passengers from Russia could not get on the Windjet flight, which was to depart on May 12, 2011.

News agencies reported that the eruption caused in total cancellation of 160 flights.

Seismologists link eruption of the Mount Etna with the earthquake in Spain in the Murcia region that killed 12 people and wounded another 170.

In 2011 Etna erupted three times already. However, these eruptions were within the normal activity of the volcano. This volcano is considered as one of the most active in the world. In the 20 century relatively large eruptions occurred in 1949, 1971, 1981, 1983 and 1991-1993. Perhaps the most destructive eruption of the Mount Etna occurred in 1669, when lava wiped out 10 villages and reached the city walls of Catania. Today, rebuilt after the eruption towns and cities have become monuments of the famous Sicilian Val di Noto Baroque and are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.