Etna update 4 May 2014, 15:00 GMT

During the past few days, intermittent and weak Strombolian activity has continued at Etna's New Southeast Crater (NSEC); from the forenoon of 1 May until the evening of 2 May no eruptive activity was observed, but during the night of 2-3 May, the high-sensitivity visual camera on the Montagnola (EMOH) recorded weak glows caused by emissions of hot gas and/or weak Strombolian explosions. In the early morning hours of 4 May, this activity intensified (as seen in the images of EMOH at left), and a few explosions launched incandescent pyroclastic material onto the upper southern and southeastern flanks of the NSEC cone.

During a field survey carried out by INGV-OE staff on the late forenoon of 4 May, frequent explosions sounds were heard coming from the NSEC, indicative of Strombolian activity, though visibility was hampered by dense gas clouds.

Furthermore, at 21:00 GMT (=local time -2) on 2 May, the stations of the Etna seismic network recorded a particolarly energetic summit event, which, however, was not accompanied by any volcanic activity visible on the surveillance cameras.

The volcanic tremor amplitude does not show significant variations.