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Mount Etna unleashed a spectacular eruption yesterday afternoon which sent tourists fleeing for their lives.
Now, incredible satellite images reveal the moment Europe’s most active volcano spewed a gigantic plume of ash four miles (6.5km) into the sky.
The terrifying photos were captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2C satellite as it passed overhead just minutes after the eruption began.
Although the eruption ultimately proved to be harmless, these images reveal the immense destructive potential of the 10,800ft (3,300 metres) volcano.
At 11:24am local time, experts believe that a large part of the southeastern crater collapsed, triggering an avalanche of rock and ash known as a pyroclastic flow.
In the before and after images, you can clearly see how the eruption sent a vast plume of ash into the air covering a large area with fresh ash.
In the photos, the dense cloud of ash rising from the summit crater is partially covered by a ‘pyrocumulus cloud’, a type of storm cloud formed by the intense heat of volcanic eruptions.
Meanwhile, infrared imagery captured the intense heat of the active lava flows descending eastwards into Mount Etna’s Valle del Bove.

Satellite images show Mount Etna before (left) and after (right) the volcano erupted yesterday afternoon

Mount Etna, Europe’s most active volcano spewed a gigantic plume of ash four miles (6.5km) into the sky as a pyroclastic flow burst from a crater
From the early hours of Monday morning, Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) Etna Observatory reported a number of explosions of ‘increasing intensity’ emerging from the volcano.
Video captured by tourists walking near the crater recorded the booming sounds of an eruption and showed a huge column of ash rising into the sky.
Terrified hikers turned and ran for their lives as the huge cloud billowed behind them.
Writing in The Conversation, Dr Teresa Ubide, of The University of Queensland, says: ‘The eruption began with an increase of pressure in the hot gases inside the volcano. This led to the partial collapse of part of one of the craters atop Etna.
‘The collapse allowed what is called a pyroclastic flow: a fast-moving cloud of ash, hot gas and fragments of rock bursting out from inside the volcano.’
Pyroclastic flows can be extremely dangerous as they travel at average speeds of 60 miles per hour (100 kmph) and can reach temperatures up to 1,000°C (1,800°F).
Luckily, in this instance, the flow was not large enough or travelling in the right direction to cause any harm or damage.
Sicily’s president, Renato Schifani, said experts had assured him the flow posed ‘no danger to the population’ and had not passed beyond the Valley of the Lions, the point where tourist groups stop.

Following the pyroclastic flow and ash cloud, the mountain produced plumes of lava which flowed down the mountain. This image is a ‘false colour’ composite of infrared data, revealing the heat of the lava flows

After erupting, the lava split into three streams, one travelling south, another east, and the last heading north and branching into several arms

A thermal imaging camera captured the lava escaping from Mount Etna during the eruption
It was the eruption of this pyroclastic flow which kicked up the ash cloud which can be seen from space in the satellite imagery.
The cloud, which mainly contains water and sulphur dioxide, was recorded by the INGV to be ‘drifting towards the southwest’ after the eruption began.
The INGV said in a statement that ‘the falling of a little thin ash has been flagged’ in the Piano Vetore area – a popular wildlife park on Etna’s southern flank.
Meanwhile, as satellite images reveal, the eruption scattered a large amount of ‘fine reddish material’ produced by the pyroclastic flow over the northwest.
A red aviation warning was briefly issued by the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre after the ash column rose over four miles into the air, but no flights have currently been disrupted.
Following the pyroclastic flow, the eruption also produced plumes of hot molten lava.
Dr Ubide says: ‘Lava began to flow in three different directions down the mountainside. These flows are now cooling down.’
Using shortwave infrared cameras the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite created a ‘false colour’ composite to show the intense heat of these flows.

Shocking footage showed tourists fleeing for their lives as the pillar of ash and dust rose behind them
Taken at 09:40 UTC, this image shows the lava flow barely beginning to branch as it escapes from the crater.
In a blog post sharing the images, Copernicus says: ‘Copernicus data is key to tracking global volcanic activity, helping communities to assess hazards, support emergency response operations, and monitor long-term changes to landscapes.’
According to a statement issued by INGV yesterday evening, the eruption activity has now come to an end.
The INGV says: ‘From a seismic point of view, the tremor has returned to low values although showing some oscillations on the average values.’
The statement adds that ‘deformation’, rising of the land due to the buildup of pressure which often proceeds an eruption, now appeared to be ‘exhausted’.
Mount Etna, located on the eastern coast of Sicily, is one of the most active volcanoes worldwide and has been going through an especially active period for the last five years.
Last summer, the volcano caused chaos at nearby airports as they were forced to limit and divert flights as pilots struggled with visibility.
A usually busy Catania airport had to send flights to other airports on the island, such as Palermo and Comiso.

Although the eruption terrified tourists, authorities say nobody was harmed by the pyroclastic flow or lava

This is Mount Etna’s 14th eruptive phase in the last few months, with the most recent dangerous eruption taking place last summer
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Arriving flights were reduced to six per hour and one section of the airport was closed, while local towns were also covered in a blanket of black ash.
The 500,000-year-old volcano has been spewing lava during repeated outbursts in May before today’s explosion.
Etna’s most destructive eruption covered 14 villages and towns in lava flows and earthquakes from the volcano.
The eruption, which lasted several weeks, killed nearly 20,000 people, with thousands more made homeless, according to records from 1669.