Visiting Sicily, Italy

Standing in a crater

Sep. 2, 2017 - Willem L. Middelkoop

Last week me and my wife went to Sicily for a little summer holiday. It is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous region of Italy, along with surrounding minor islands. It's home to Europe's largest active volcano: Mount Etna. We had a chance to visit this lava spurring monstrosity and it was quite the experience.

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Not your typical busses. These 4x4 vehicles double as emergency escape cars in case of eruption.

Rough terrain

Overview of tectonic plates (image: USGS)

An overview of the craters - notice how it is kept up to date :-)

Fresh lava, just a few months old, clearly recognisable

Etna is big enough to see it from space (NASA Earth Observatory)

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