Etna puts on new spectacle

(ANSA) - CATANIA, FEB 16 - Etna put on a fresh spectacle by belching out a large plume of smoke and a long lava flow from the southeast crater of its summit towering above Catania on Tuesday.
    The fireworks show is part of a new 'Strombolian' eruption.
    Etna is Europe's tallest active volcano.
    In its latest show of pyrotechnics in eastern Sicily, the relatively new crater on the southeastern slope of the iconic volcano spewed out "sporadic bursts" of lava and ash plumes, volcanologists said.
    Catania's international airport, 60 km to the south, has not yet been affected, but a local crisis unit is meeting this evening to assess the situation.
    Many such blowups in the past have shut down the airport and covered Catania in ash. (ANSA).