Latest Mount Etna tremors leave at least 30 people injured
Emission of ash and explosions from the Etna volcano on Tuesday. The ash column heads towards the city of Catania. Photo: Getty
At least 30 people have been injured in a series of earthquakes around Sicily’s Mount Etna volcano, local media reports say.
The strongest was a 4.8-magnitude quake, which struck near the municipality of Viagrande early on Wednesday, local time.
It was the latest in dozens of tremors since Europe’s most active volcano erupted on Monday.
Local media and images posted on social media showed damaged buildings near Catania, an eastern Sicilian city of 300,000 people.
ITALIAN VOLCANO: Sicily's Catania airport resumed full operations a day after an ash cloud from Mount Etna's latest eruption forced it to shut down. https://t.co/DFL3Dpige7 pic.twitter.com/fCldQrAE1k
— ABC News (@ABC) December 26, 2018
Italy’s INGV volcanology institute said on Tuesday that there was a new fracture near Mount Etna’s south-eastern crater.
Volcanic ash covered nearby villages, and many residents were forced to evacuate their homes.
The latest earthquake hit at 3.19am on Wednesday, prompting many people to run out of their homes and sleep in cars.
It was felt strongly because its epicentre was a relatively shallow one kilometre deep, officials said.
Il terremoto a Catania: Etna: notte di paura per un sisma di magnitudo 4.8: si registrano crolli a Fleri, Santa Venerina e Zafferana Etnea. L'epicentro intorno ai comuni di Viangrande e Trecastagni L'articolo Il terremoto a Catania proviene da… https://t.co/XvoM9Go9qa pic.twitter.com/nIkaql2A7f
— Notizie confermate (@notiveri) December 26, 2018
Television footage showed damage to older buildings in the towns of Santa Venerina and Zafferana Etnea.
Several of the area’s centuries-old churches appeared to suffer the most damage. They were empty at the time of the quake.
About 30 people suffered injuries, mostly from falling masonry as they fled from their homes, officials said.
About 10 were taken to hospital by ambulances, the others were taken by friends and family members.
None of the injuries were serious.
Flights to and from Catania airport had to be halted temporarily on Tuesday due to the ash cloud.
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