Italy's Mount Etna Lights Up Night Sky in Spectacular Eruption

General view of an eruption of the South East volcano of Etna, Italy, on Feb. 10, 2022. (Antonio Parrinello/Reuters)

ROME —Italy's Mount Etna, Europe's highest and most active volcano, erupted in spectacular fashion late on Thursday, lighting up the night sky with explosions and bright red molten lava.

The eruption centered on the volcano's southeastern crater, at a height of around 2,900 meters, sent ash and plumes of smoke 8 km into the sky, Italy's National Institute for Geophysics and Volcanology said.

General view of an eruption of the South East volcano of Etna, as seen from Nicolosi, Italy, on Feb. 10, 2022. (Antonio Parrinello/Reuters)

There were no reports of any injuries.

The 3,330 meters high volcano can burst into spectacular action several times a year, spewing lava and ash high over the Mediterranean island of Sicily. The last major eruption was in 1992.