Tourists on edge of smoking crater on Mount Etna in Sicily, Italy.
Mount Etna, Sicily, Italy: tourists on edge of smoking crater. Visitors access authorised ‘safe’ crater zones above 2,500 metres by off-road minibus and join official guided walking tours rather than risk the shifting terrain of ash, cinders and loose stones on their own. At around 3,326 m (10,900 ft), Etna is Western Europe’s highest active volcano. Activity began around 500,000 years ago. Since 2000, there have been four eruptions through flank vents (in 2001, 2002 - 2003, 2004 - 2005 and 2008 - 2009), as well as summit eruptions in 2006, 2007 - 2008, 2012, 2018 and 2021. The Parco dell’Etna regional authority safeguards 60,000 hectares of land above 800m (2,624 ft), extending from the summit down to surrounding towns and villages.
Size: 2832px × 4256px
Location: Mount Etna, Sicily, Italy
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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