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CNN Live At Daybreak

Italy's Mount Etna Spews Lava

Aired July 26, 2001 - 08:07   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: Now fire and ice. First the fire.

Island volcanoes are restless this morning: the Mayon blowing its top in the Philippines. Twenty five thousand people forced to flee there. And Mount Etna grumbling and spitting out lava in Sicily.

Etna is Europe's most active volcano, and it is proving it right now. Workers are building embankments to divert the flow of lava.

CNN's Matthew Chance is near the mountain and joins us now on the phone.

Matthew, what's going on?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Colleen. I am standing more or less on the slopes -- the southern slopes of Mount Etna, Europe's biggest active volcano. I can tell you the scenes here are pretty awesome. We've got a powerful display of the natural power of these volcanoes going on right now.

Big plumes of smoke still bellowing up into the sky. and thick, choking gas around these skies around Mount Etna. But otherwise you can hear in the distance that there are every few seconds now thundering explosions that literally shake the mountain every time it happens every few seconds. It is quite a, you know, disturbing experience to experience at such close hand.

You mentioned the Italian rescue workers. They are working very hard racing, they say, against time to try and stem the flow of the molten rock, the lava, which is still pouring down the southern slopes of the mountain, particularly toward a tourist resort called Sapienza, where I was a few moments ago.

And in fact, a bit of the infrastructure, one of the (AUDIO GAP) there have been badly damaged, probably beyond any kind of repair. And what they are trying to do is to prevent any further damage to property, not just there, but also in other towns and villages scattered around the valley here, which are of course, not immediate threats, according to Italian authorities. But emergency teams are on stand by to act if and when the situation arises on the situation with the volcano deteriorating -- Colleen.

MCEDWARDS: Matthew, I am curious about these embankments we have heard about them building. I mean, can you tell how well they are doing their job at this point? Are they actually able to stem the flow in certain areas?

CHANCE: Well, clearly it's a difficult job when you are battling such powerful forces at work here on Mount Etna. But I was speaking to the people who are manning the bulldozers earlier today. And they're very clear that, you know, they are working as hard as they can and very quickly to move big piles of earth in the way of the approaching mass of lava.

I think they have been more successful in other areas, where there have been other smaller lava flows. They have managed to divert that to big ditches, and so the lava is poured into it. Here at Sapienza though, near Sapienza, the lava is coming out pretty thick and fast. In other areas, it's advancing. It has been advancing on an average of about 250 meters per day for 24 hours.

Well, earlier today over a six-hour period that we timed, that lava flow moved nearly 1,000 meters. So it's coming out very quickly and very powerfully here in Sapienza. So it's much more difficult to control, Colleen.

MCEDWARDS: All right. Matthew Chance in Sicily. Thanks very much.

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