One natural disaster we don’t have to worry about in Texas is volcanoes, and after looking at these photos of Mount Etna in Italy we can be glad of that.
Mount Etna rises about two miles above sea level on the island of Sicily and regularly erupts. The most recent series of eruptions began during early on February 19, and this is believed to be the largest eruption of Mt. Etna since at least 2000.
The series of eruptions culminated on Saturday night, when the volcano sent fountains of lava more than 800 meters into the air, according to an estimate by Boris Behncke of the Osservatorio Etneo. His photograph of the eruption appears below.
As Erik Klemetti notes, the eruption in the photo below is taller than two Empire State buildings.
Another perspective of Etna’s eruptions appears in the false-color satellite image below that combines shortwave infrared, near-infrared, and green light. It comes via NASA’s Earth Observatory.
This combination of imaging techniques makes it easy to differentiate between fresh lava (red), snow (blue), clouds (white), and forest (purple — just kidding, it’s green).
This is Europe’s tallest active volcano, so enjoy its activity from afar.