Mount Etna Erupts

Crisis Global News

Editor

June 4, 2025

Mount Etna erupted on Monday (June 2), sending a flow of hot material racing down the volcano as a massive dark cloud of ash rose high into the sky above Sicily. Live Science has rounded up some of the best photographs and videos of this eruption.

News reports initially indicated this was the biggest eruption at Etna since 2014, but INVG representatives have since said this is not the case and that it was “a medium-sized eruption.”

The Italian volcano, which is the largest active volcano in Europe, has been erupting on and off for centuries, according to the Smithsonian’s Global Volcanism Program. The current interval of eruptive activity began on Nov. 27, 2022.

An avalanche of ejected hot lava blocks, ash, gas and other volcanic material, known as a pyroclastic flow, began to race down the side of the volcano at around 11:20 a.m. local time.

Mount Etna’s latest eruption likely started after a collapse of material in the southeast crater. The resulting explosive activity then spawned three main lava flows that are now cooling, according to an update from the Etnean Observatory, run by Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology.

The eruption pumped large amounts of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) into the atmosphere, according to the Toulouse Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre. When released from a volcano, sulfur dioxide can mix with other gases and particles to form a haze called volcanic smog (vog). Inhaling enough vog can cause respiratory problems and other health issues such as eye and skin irritation, according to the United States Geological Survey.