Lightning Bolts appear above volcano in Chile

[American Patriot]

Lightning Bolts appear above volcano in Chile + Etna volcano rumbles back to life in Sicily
Yahoo News and AFP ^ | May 10, 2008

Lightning bolts appear above and around the Chaiten volcano as seen from Chana, some 30 kms (19 miles) north of the volcano, as it began its first eruption in thousands of years, in southern Chile May 2, 2008. Cases of electrical storms breaking out directly above erupting volcanos are well documented, although scientists differ on what causes them. Picture taken May 2, 2008.
REUTERS/Carlos Gutierrez (CHILE)

[American Patriot]

The Etna volcano in Sicily rumbled back to life on Tuesday with a "seismic event" followed by a burst of ash, volcanologists said three days after minor eruptions shook the cone.


A "seismic event provoking a strong explosion was recorded Tuesday at 0424 GMT (6:42 am local) in parts of the peak of the volcano," the National Geophysics and Vulcanology Institute in Sicily's Catania region said in a statement.


The explosion on Etna, Europe's tallest active volcano at 3,295 metres (10,810 feet), was followed by a rain of ash on the southeast crater, "where significant gas emissions are occurring," the statement said.


The institute dispatched experts on Tuesday to the site, but "the phenomenon currently represents no danger to people or property," it said.


Saturday's eruption, accompanied by streams of lava, was also at the volcano's southeast crater.


The last eruption of Mount Etna was in November 2007, two months after another eruption forced a temporary closure of nearby Catania airport due to flowing lava and clouds of ash.


The last major eruption was in 2001.