An Italianvolcano located on the small island of Stromboli off the coast of Sicily has erupted just over a month after its previous eruption. The previous time the volcano went off was in July, as CNN reports, leaving one dead. The latest eruption, which happened on Wednesday, has left the island suffering from vegetation fires and sent locals and tourists running.
CNN reports that Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology said the eruption was a "paroxysmal event," producing a pyroclastic flow comprised of gas, rock, and volcanic ash.
"We were sailing at a safe distance as per ordinance, when all of a sudden we heard a loud bang and saw a large black cloud spewing out of the Stromboli crater and pouring into the sea," 19-year-old Sicily resident Elena Schiera told CNN of the eruption, which she filmed. "We immediately increased the speed of the boat to the maximum, even though, being a sailboat, the speed was still limited. Then the cloud arrived at sea and began to advance quickly towards us," she added. "At that moment the panic broke out because we had the cloud a few meters away from our stern, but thanks to my father who was at the helm we managed to get away just in time because then the cloud started to rise again."
There have been no reported injuries following the eruption. Shortly after it took place, firefighters deployed sea planes to put out the vegetation fires. "The situation is under control," mayor of nearby island Lipari Marco Giorgianni explained. "I alerted civil protection anyway and banned the docking of non-public transport boats."
