The southeastern crater of Italy's Mount Etna has increased in height after six months of activity, the nation's volcano monitoring agency said on Tuesday. After this, Europe's tallest active volcano has become taller than ever, reported news agency AFP.
Mount Etna's youngest and most active crater is now 3,357 meters (11,000 feet) above sea level, in a new record, said the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV).
The Sicilian city-based institute in a press release said, "Thanks to the analysis and processing of satellite images, the southeast crater is now much higher than its 'older brother', the northeast crater, for 40 years the undisputed peak of Etna," news agency AFP quoted
Since mid-February, after nearly 50 episodes of ash and lava belching from the crater have led to a "conspicuous transformation of the volcano's outline", INGV said, adding that the volcano's dimensions have been calculated through satellite images.
The record height of the northeastern crater of Etna was recorded in 1981, at 3,350 metres, however, its height was reduced to 3,326 meters, recorded in 2018, after collapse at its edges.
Mount Etna's crater has been belching smoke and ash since February, posing threat to surrounding villages, as Sicily's government in July, in an estimate, said that nearly 300,000 metric tonnes of ash were cleaned up. The crater's ash has been damaging crops, dirtying streets, and slowing traffic, creating a nuisance in surrounding areas.
