Originally published at: Mount Etna has its first major eruption in 30 years, and footage is spectacular (video) | Boing Boing
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Seems beautiful. Don’t know why the people from Herculaneum left such a bad review.
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Different volcano, but yeah.
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Awww, cute little smokestack on the roof of the building, trying to compete. Or maybe just waving hello
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That was a short rest - Etna was erupting until early February with a short eruption that started last year. Previously it had been in almost continuously eruption since 2013.
Despite all the headlines, this eruption doesn’t actually seem to be much - if any - bigger than the previous one which peaked at VEI 3 (about 0.01 km3 of tephra). Though as always, the short-lived paroxysmal lava fountains on Etna are truly magnificent.
Over the weekend, the much more dangerous Popacatépetl erupted in Mexico, about 3 million people have been told they should prepare for evacuation due to the risk of pyroclastic flows caused by a collapse in the huge piles of debris built up around the vents.
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That looks like an amazingly high lava plume. I’d be terrified if I lived anywhere near there.
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If one lived that close, one might be tempted to invent a few gods to help explain the phenomenon.
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I’d invent a really, really long marshmallow-roasting stick.
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It briefly peaked at about 1000m above the crater rim which is enormous, but has gone higher in the past.
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Thanks @MikeR ,That’s incredible! Were there any color pictures taken? Black and white would be okay too but it’s hard to tell lava from your run of the mill volcanic plume material without the color.
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There’s some video of a smaller fountain (a mere 600m or so) here:
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