Two volcanoes in the heart of Europe have become active, a "red alert" has been declared.

Mount Etna and Stromboli, two active volcanoes in southern Italy, have become active. It has been reported that the ash and lava ejected by the volcanoes have affected the surrounding areas.

It has been reported that volcanic activity has been increasing in the island of Sicily for the past few days, and after Mount Etna, which had the highest level of lava and ash eruptions yesterday, another active volcano, Stromboli, located in the south of the country, also experienced volcanic explosions.

LAVA AND ROCK FRAGMENTS FELL INTO THE SEA

It has been reported that the volcano on the island of Stromboli, which is part of the Aeolian Islands, started to emit ash and some lava intensively yesterday, and that lava and rock fragments fell into the sea. According to the information shared by the Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), the ash ejected by Stromboli Volcano reached an altitude of approximately 2 kilometers.

RED ALERT ISSUED

In a post from the Prime Ministry Civil Defense Department's X platform, it was announced that the alarm level was raised to "red" due to intense volcanic activity in Stromboli. It was stated that Fabrizio Curcio, the General Director of Civil Defense, convened the emergency operations committee to evaluate the steps to protect the residents of the island from the effects of the volcano and monitor the situation.

FLIGHTS SUSPENDED

On the other hand, air transportation was also affected by the ash and smoke cloud that reached approximately 4.5 kilometers in height and was emitted from Mount Etna, which reached its highest level of volcanic activity during the daytime yesterday. It was announced that Etna's ashes reached the city of Catania and Fontanarossa Airport, and as a precautionary measure, flights at the airport were suspended as of this morning.

Mount Etna in Sicily is 3,300 meters high, while Stromboli Volcano is 920 meters above sea level. Experts state that although Mount Etna and Stromboli, which are located close to each other geographically, have some common characteristics, their volcanic activities have fundamentally different features and are not connected to each other.