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CNN Saturday Morning News

Mount Etna Continues to Erupt

Aired July 28, 2001 - 07:14   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.
BRIAN NELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Go overseas again to Sicily, experts there saying two more fractures have opened up on Mount Etna, but that may help relieve some of the pressure as the volcano continues spewing some lava, smoke, and ash.

And CNN's Matthew Chance is getting as close to the eruption as he safely can.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The turbulent slopes of Mount Etna, Europe's biggest active volcano, still bursting with molten rock and choking gas. Thick layers of black ash are again blanketing towns and villages around its slopes, and still no clear sign of when this powerful eruption will ease.

Driving through the blackened passes that climb Mount Etna, we travel towards the heart of the volcanic zone, 2,500 meters, nearly 8,000 feet above sea level.

Volcanologists here, experts in these eruptions, have a living laboratory in the clouds. These scientific tools are casting light on Mount Etna's unpredictable eruption and on the levels of harmful gases, like carbon dioxide, that have been spewing from the volcano for days.

But scientists say these poisonous emissions make little impact on the global environment. And it is humans who stand to lose the most at the edge of this lava flow. Scientists had hoped the worst was over, but here there is little evidence of that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NELSON: CNN's Matthew Chance now joins us on the phone from, I understand, very close to Mount Etna.

Hello, Matthew. How close are you to the volcano right now?

CHANCE: Well, Brian, very close indeed. In fact, I'm standing on the southern slopes, those very dangerous volcanic slopes on the southern approaches to Europe's biggest active volcano.

And that volcano is still very much in the midst of an intensive eruption. Over the last 50 minutes, we've been hearing some very loud explosions, spewing black smoke high into the skies over Sicily, accompanied by these loud noises, underground explosions that are literally shaking the ground on which I'm standing right now.

There's been a lot of dramatic activity as well overnight, molten rock shooting high into the skies again, also vast lava flows still pouring relentlessly down these southern slopes towards populated areas. And even as we speak, Brian, Italian emergency teams are working hard to try and divert that flow, constructing big earth walls to try and divert this flow of lava away from properties and populated areas.

But already, several buildings, parts of main roads, and at least one ski lift -- I don't know whether you heard that large explosion again -- at least one ski lift has been completely lost. Italian officials say the very heavily populated areas, the site where I'm standing now, are still relatively safe, although this is a very unpredictable situation, Brian.

NELSON: All right, thank you. CNN's Matthew Chance on the south slope of Mount Etna in Sicily.

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