Rome: At least 10 people have been injured in a series of earthquakes around Sicily’s Mount Etna volcano, the Ansa news agency reported on Wednesday. The strongest was a 4.8-magnitude quake, which struck near the municipality of Viagrande. It was the latest in dozens of tremors since Europe’s most active volcano erupted on Monday. “Fortunately, there are no dead, only slightly injured,” Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said.
Ten people were injured by falling debris, Ansa reported.
Local media and images posted on social media showed damaged buildings near Catania, an eastern Sicilian city of 300,000 people.
Italy’s INGV vulcanology institute said on Tuesday that there was anew fissure near Mount Etna’s south-eastern crater.
Since the beginning of the most recent activity at the volcano on December 23, about 60 quakes have been registered higher than magnitude 2.5, according to the INGV.
Mount Etna is one of the most active volcanoes in the world with frequent eruptions, both large and small.
The biggest damage was caused by earthquakes in Zafferana Etnea,where plaster crumbled from facades and the walls of houses collapsed. A church from the 17th century was also heavily damaged. Many people spent the night outdoors or stayed in their cars.
Because of possible damage to the road, the highway between Catania and Messina was closed off in places.
Catania Airport asked travellers to allow more time for their journeys after the eruption from Etna temporarily affected flight operations in recent days.
On Wednesday there were initially no restrictions, the airport said on Twitter.
The new activity from the volcano provided spectacular images, such as glowing hot lava in the dark.
According to Italian vulcanologists, the eruption has created a2-kilometre-long crack on Mount Etna.
At more than 3,300 metres high, the volcano is one of the highest in Europe. — dpa
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