On the morning of March 7th, 2021, above a cloudy and rainy sky, Mt Etna unleashes the tenth eruptive paroxysm. It caused a giant cloud of ash and lapilli to fall on Milo, Giarre and Riposto. In the photo alongside (from Gianni Pennisi’s facebook page), the main street of the city of Giarre. From Cathedral square at the bottom to the foreground, it is submerged by an avalanche of black sand and water. This makes it almost impossible for cars to move.

The volcano began to show signs of restlessness as early as 3 am. Lava fountains from the South East Crater started with audible roars especially from the north and east. The overcast sky on the eastern side, however, prevented the people from seeing the beginning of yet another paroxysm, the tenth in two weeks. It included very high column of material that headed towards Milo, Giarre, Riposto.

The intense falling of volcanic sand and large lapilli (even 5 centimeters long!) at low altitude surprised people together with the normal, atmospheric rain. Largw black rivers invaded streets, squares and even fields … causing no few problems for local agriculture too.