Eruption of Sicily's Mt. Etna

October 31 12:00:00, 2002

A change in wind direction has shifted the spread of Mt. Etna's continuing volcanic emissions from their southerly track toward Africa to an easterly track toward Greece. Though skies are cloudy in this true-color Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from October 31, 2002, it is clear that Mt. Etna's eruption is entering its fifth day, and a brownish plume extends hundreds of miles east from the volcano across the Ionian Sea toward Greece (see high-resolution scene for full plume.)

Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC