Sicily’s Mount Etna erupted on Monday, producing an enormous ash cloud “several kilometers high.”  The eruption began at 11:24 a.m. local time, according to reports. Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology warned of “almost continuous” explosions that were of “increasing intensity” caused by a section of Etna’s southeast crater crumbling.

Sicily's Mount Etna put on a fiery show on Monday, sending a cloud of smoke and ash several kilometres into the air. Although the eruption sent some tourists scrambling, officials said the activity posed no danger to the population.

Mount Etna produced a spectacularly explosive eruption Monday, sending a ripple of reddish clouds down from the southeast summit of Europe's highest active volcano.