MOUNT ETNA

Mount Etna is an active volcano in Sicily, Italy. It’s 3,329 metres tall. It’s the biggest volcano in Europe.
It’s got a very big crater that you can see even from space. In 1669, an eruption killed 1,500 people. The eruption caused an earthquake and it destroyed the town Nicoli. In the cities of Paterno and Catania, people built big walls to protect themselves from the hot lava. Mount Etna is a popular place for tourists and photographers.
People come to ski and take photos of lava pools. In 1987, two tourists were near Mount Etna. The volcano erupted suddenly. The explosion was very big and the tourists did not survive. Mount Etna began to erupt again in 2014. Scientists looked at the lava and they saw ash, gas and rocks coming out of a new crater. Lava also went down the mountain for many months. At the end of August 2014, the eruption stopped. Lava burned houses and covered some villages. In December 2015, the volcano erupted again. They closed the airports. They said that the ash and the heat could be dangerous for the aeroplanes. Many villages on the island of Sicily stayed under a thick layer of ash and smoke. Driving on Sicily’s roads became more dangerous. It was difficult to see what was on the road. Mount Etna is still active in 2017.