Another lava-fountaining episode (paroxysm) occurred this morning at the volcano.
Visibility of the new eruptive phase was very limited due to dense clouds, but some observers could catch glimpses of the lava fountain and ash column that rose several kilometers. It appears that the new paroxysm was shorter but stronger than the previous paroxysm on 13-14 Dec.
A sharp peak in tremor accompanied the event, which seems to have lasted less than two hours, as typical for Etna’s paroxysms. Preceding the eruption today, the New SE crater had been showing intense strombolian activity in the past few days, with increasing tendency during the last night.
Given two paroxysms in just over a week and Etna’s tendency to produce such events in series at roughly regular intervals during certain phases (such as in 2000 or 2011-13), it could be a beginning of a new series of paroxysms in the coming days, weeks or months.
