Etna update, 4 January 2011

After a few hours of quiescence, on the evening of 3 January 2011, very weak emissions of incandescent material (probably mostly hot gas with little or no solid material) resumed from the pit crater located on the lower eastern flank of the Southeast Crater cone. Furthermore, on the late evening of 3 January, from the village of S. Alfio on the east flank of Etna, an intense glow was seen at the pit crater. The emissions are continuing as of the forenoon of 4 January, at a frequency of 4-6 events per hour, producing small plumes appearing as minor thermal anomalies in the video footage of the INGV-CT thermal telecamera at the Montagnola (EMOT).