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Mount Etna has erupted, sending smoke and ash into the sky and forcing a nearby airport to close temporarily.

Etna, at 3,350m high, is on the Italian island of Sicily and is one of the world's most active volcanoes.

There were no reports of injuries or damage.

The Department of Civil Protection said nearby centres were not at risk, although Italy's Central Emergency Department said it was watching the towns of Linguaglossa, Fornazzo and Milo.

The airport at Catania had to close due to ash, which had risen more than a kilometer into the air and made it unsafe to fly, the Ansa news agency reported.

#Etna erupting this evening in #Sicily video by a family friend pic.twitter.com/2lY16kiOUO
— Isabella Librando (@IsabellaLibrand) February 16, 2021

Photos shared on social media showed ash raining down on houses and a tall column of smoke coming from the mountain and stretching over the buildings below.

Mount #Etna is doing its thing again—a big Strombolian eruption from the summit.

In this video (via @tancredipalmeri), look at the large, orange blob at the base of the eruptive column.

That's a fountain of lava several hundred metres high. pic.twitter.com/YVXpftmYDk
— Prof. Paul Byrne (@ThePlanetaryGuy) February 16, 2021

Stefano Branco, head of the INGV National Institute for Geophysics and Vulcanology, told Italian news agency AGI that the latest burst of activity was "not at all worrying", adding: "We've seen worse".

By the early hours of Wednesday volcanic activity had started to ease.

Mount Etna going off here in Sicily.#etna #volcano #eruption pic.twitter.com/jBnBmctYzw
— SJ Vernon🇺🇸 (@SJVernon7) February 16, 2021

Massive explosion on #Etna this afternoon. Two columns of ashes and smoke are visible from its top: one is very vertical, demonstrating the power of energy released. Fountains of lava are spectacular at dusk. A Lava flow, long and large, goes towards the desertic Valle del Bove pic.twitter.com/nT1zEc3ZVd
— Francesca Marchese #FBPE 🇪🇺 (@fmarchese_uk) February 16, 2021

Lava flows high on the east flank of #Etna after its brief, violent and spectacular (and entirely harmless) paroxysm on the evening of 16 February 2021, seen from the village of Santa Venerina. pic.twitter.com/0NqYrgRC6F
— Boris Behncke (@etnaboris) February 16, 2021

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