The most beautiful volcano on Earth - Etna, 29 August 2011 [Explored, again !!!]

First of all, I am flattered for having had two of my photos in "Explore" on one single day, which has not happened before (to my knowledge, some four or five of my photos have made it to "Explore" previously) - thank you all for visiting and commenting, and pardon me if I do not very often respond to your comments.

[Note added 31 August 2011: Totally incredible, this video made it into Explore, too - I've never seen a video in Explore thus far but that might be due to the fact that I'm not regularly checking :-D

Three "Explored" in a row, now that's a new thing for me.]

 

In return, here you get another jewel from yesterday's (29 August 2011) wonderful paroxysm at the New Southeast Crater of Etna, a video clip taken during the first few minutes of sustained lava fountaining, not long before the southeastern side of the cone burst open with a new eruptive fissure. This has the original sound, which also contains some of the spectators' comments, all Italian, including the arrival of two friends of the Alpine Rescue Service.

 

And here you can watch a selection of 20 video clips from the 29 August 2011 paroxysm on YouTube - from the start to the end :-D

 

Part 1: Lava oozing from the crater

Part 2: Increasing activity

Part 3: Into daybreak, and a lucky spectator arrives

Part 4: Eruption nearby and crepuscular rays from a distant eruption

Part 5: Appearance of a new tiny lava flow

Part 6: Gaining strength

Part 7: More spectators arrive (same video as the one here)

Part 8: The rise of the ash column

Part 9: ... and then a new vent popped open

Part 10: The new eruptive fissure

Part 11: Lava fountains at sunrise

Part 12: The rain of little rock fragments begins

Part 13: Filming lava fountains under the lapilli fall

Part 14: Activity starts to weaken

Part 15: Still loud, and lots of ash

Part 16: Eruption clouds of different colors

Part 17: Zoom on the fading fountains

Part 18: Last moments of the lava fountains

Part 19: Rapidly declining activity

Part 20: The New Southeast Crater reappears - barely recognizable

Done