A volcano on the Italian island of Stromboli erupted dramatically on Wednesday, killing a hiker and sending tourists fleeing into the sea.

The volcano is known to be active but on Wednesday there were two particularly powerful explosions.

"Unfortunately one man is dead, there are a few injured, but none seriously," emergency worker Calogero Foti told RAI television.

The dead man was a 35-year-old from Messina in Sicily who was walking with a Brazilian companion who was found dehydrated and in a state of shock, the AGI news agency reported.

They were walking below the 400 metre altitude limit above which a guide is required.

'Like being in hell'

A navy boat has been sent to the 12 square kilometre island for a possible mass evacuation, with 70 inhabitants and tourists already evacuated.

"It was like being in hell because of the rain of fire coming from the sky," Italian news agencies quoted local priest Giovanni Longo as saying.

He said it was not known if there were any hikers on the volcano at the time of the eruption, which caused fires around the village of Ginostra.

Stromboli is topped by an active volcano which is a magnet for tourists from early spring each year.

Italian media reported that some tourists had fled into the sea after the eruption, while others had barricaded themselves into homes.

Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) said there were two huge explosions on the central-southern side of the volcano's crater at around 3.45pm Wednesday, one of the biggest explosions ever recorded on the island.

The explosions were preceded by lava spills "from all the active mouths of the crater terrace," the INGV said, prompting a two-kilometre high plume of smoke.

"It's been a long time since we had an eruption of this magnitude," former local councillor Gianluca Giuffre told RAI news.

"My experience and of those who have been living here for generations leads us to believe that the situation will calm down again but we must be cautious," he said.

A firefighting plane could not put out fires in the area because of the amount of smoke, Italian media reported.

The INGV said it was monitoring the situation.

A previous massive eruption in December 2002 prompted a tidal wave after magma from a particularly violent eruption cascaded into the sea. Six people were injured.

Piers, boats and some buildings were swept away.

Access to the island was forbidden to outsiders for over a month amid the risk of further landslides and scientists set up electronic observation stations to monitor volcanic activity.

Four-fifths of the island's population of around 500 decided to leave for the Aeolian island administrative centre of Lipari, whose schools have taken on Stromboli's children since the disaster.

Stromboli was made famous in the 1950 film of the same name by Roberto Rossellini, starring Ingrid Bergman and is a major tourist attraction with thousands of people visiting its lava-spitting crater each year.

A fresh eruption on Mt Etna, Europe's most active volcano, on Sicily, was also reported on Tuesday. It caused no consequences. </s> Image copyright Carmelo Saia Image caption Tourists watch the explosion from a beach on the island of Lipari

A volcano has erupted on the Italian island of Stromboli, killing one person and sending frightened tourists fleeing.

The victim is a male hiker who was hit by a falling stone, while other people were injured.

The navy has been deployed for a possible mass evacuation, with 70 people already evacuated.

The volcano is one of the most active on the planet and has been under a regular state of eruption since 1932.

"Unfortunately one man is dead, there are a few injured, but none seriously," emergency worker Calogero Foti told Italy's Rai television.

The victim was a 35-year-old man from Sicily who was hiking when the volcano erupted twice. His Brazilian friend was discovered dehydrated and in a state of shock, the AGI news agency reported.

Image copyright EPA Image caption Ash rising from Stromboli after the eruption

Firefighters are battling flames on the island.

"We saw the explosion from the hotel. There was a loud roar," said Michela Favorito, who works in a hotel on the island.

"We plugged our ears and after this a cloud of ash swept over us. The whole sky is full of ash, a fairly large cloud," she said.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Columns of ash rise from the eruption of the volcano on the Italian island of Stromboli.

Fiona Carter, a British tourist on the island of Panarea, some 17 miles from Stromboli, heard the eruption.

"We turned around to see a mushroom cloud coming from Stromboli. Everyone was in shock. Then red hot lava started running down the mountain towards the little village of Ginostra," she said.

Image copyright AFP Image caption View of the volcano from the nearby island of Panarea

Holidaymakers were reported to have run into the sea after seeing ash rising from the volcano. The island is a popular location for holiday homes of the rich and famous.

Stromboli is known as the "Lighthouse of the Mediterranean" and has a population of around 500. The last major eruption was in 2002, when a blast destroyed local buildings and piers, injuring six. </s> A volcano on the Italian island of Stromboli erupted on Wednesday, releasing hot trapped magma in a powerful explosion, killing one person and enveloping the popular tourist destination in ash.

The person, believed to be a tourist, was killed by falling stones during a walk, a rescue service official said. A second person was injured.

The unexpected eruption started fires on the western side of the small Mediterranean island, which lies north of Sicily, off the toe of Italy.

Fire crews were being called in from nearby locations and a Canadair plane was already in action. The popular tourist destination was envolved in smoke.

The National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology (INGV) confirmed a series of unexpected explosions on the small Mediterranean island, which began at 4.51pm local time.

'We saw the explosion from the hotel. There was a loud roar,' said Michela Favorito, who works in a hotel near Fico Grande, on the east side of the island.

'We plugged our ears and after this a cloud of ash swept over us. The whole sky is full of ash, a fairly large cloud,' she said.

Fiona Carter, a British tourist on the island of Panarea, some 27 km (17 miles) from Stromboli, heard the blast.

'We turned around to see a mushroom cloud coming from Stromboli. Everyone was in shock. Then red hot lava started running down the mountain towards the little village of Ginostra,' she said.

'The cloud got bigger, white and grey. It enveloped Ginostra and now the cloud has covered Stromboli entirely. Several boats set off for Stromboli,' she added.

One witness described the eruption as 'sudden and violent'.

'Tourists diving into the sea to avoid lava after Stromboli eruption,' they wrote on Twitter. 'It's not a particularly active volcano, so that's a surprise.'

INGV expert Stefano Branca said there had been a 'paroxysmal eruption' on the island, when high-pressure magma explodes from a shallow, underground reservoir.

'These are events of great intensity and quite rare,' he said.

Tourists often climb to the 924-metre (3,000-foot) summit of the volcano and peer into its crater, with small puffs of molten rock regularly blasted into the sky. It was not clear if anyone was on the crater at the time of the latest blast.

According to the geology.com website, Stromboli is one of the most active volcanoes on the planet and has been erupting almost continuously since 1932.

The island was the setting for a 1950 movie starring Ingrid Bergman and, with other islands in the Aeolian archipelago, has become a favourite location in recent decades for holiday homes for the rich and famous. </s> A tourist has died and another seriously injured after a volcano unexpectedly erupted on an island in the Mediterranean today.

Emergency services say they dashed to Stromboli volcano on the Italian island off the coast of the mainland this afternoon.

The disaster has killed at least one person, thought to be from Italy.

Tourists, frightened by the unexpected explosion, have thrown themselves into the sea at nearby beaches, according to reports.

Pictures show molten lava and ash spewing from the volcano, which is not believed to be an active one.

It's also shooting out red-hot rocks called lapilli, local sources claim.

"A huge column of dense black smoke is coming out of the crater," one witness said.

Another added: "There was a powerful explosion. We heard a bang, then a column of smoke and lapilli fell onto Ginostra, and flames on the slopes of the volcano".

The fire service the eruption has caused blazes to break out across the tiny rural islands.

People on Twitter have expressed their concern.

"Major #eruption on #Stromboli sudden and major, I really hope everyone is ok the whole mountain just blew up a few seconds ago," wrote one user.

Another posted: "Tourists diving into the sea to avoid lava after Stromboli eruption.

"Sudden and violent. It's not a particularly active volcano, so that's a surprise."

Michela Favorito, who works in a hotel near Fico Grande, on the east side of the island, said: "We saw the explosion from the hotel. There was a loud roar.

"We plugged our ears and after this a cloud of ash swept over us.

"The whole sky is full of ash, a fairly large cloud."

"We turned around to see a mushroom cloud coming from Stromboli. Everyone was in shock. Then red hot lava started running down the mountain towards the little village of Ginostra," she said.

"The cloud got bigger, white and grey. It enveloped Ginostra and now the cloud has covered Stromboli entirely. Several boats set off for Stromboli."

Stromboli, with around 500 residents, is a small island off the north coast of Sicilly.

The round volcano stands 926 m (3,038 ft) above sea level. It last erupted in 2009. </s> Hundreds of people fled Italy’s Stromboli after fatal volcano eruption hit the island, Italian news agency ANSA reported on Thursday.

Mayor Marco Giorgianni told ANSA that the situation “was returning to normal although a swathe of the island around Ginostra was covered with pumice stones”.

Italy’s island of Stromboli hit by a volcano eruption on Wednesday. 35-year-old naval officer Massimo Imbesi died, and tourists dived into the sea out of fear, according to ANSA.

Italy has three active volcanos that erupted in the last hundred years. Mount Etna on Sicily and Stromboli continue to be active. Mount Vesuvius near Naples lastly erupted in 1944.

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ROME - A volcano on the Italian island of Stromboli erupted on Wednesday, releasing hot trapped magma in a powerful explosion, killing one person and enveloping the popular tourist destination in ash, witnesses and local officials said.

The person, believed to be a tourist, was killed by falling stones during a walk, a rescue service official said. A second person was injured.

The unexpected eruption started fires on the western side of the small Mediterranean island, which lies north of Sicily, off the toe of Italy. Fire crews were being called in from nearby locations and a Canadair plane was already in action.

"We saw the explosion from the hotel. There was a loud roar," said Michela Favorito, who works in a hotel near Fico Grande, on the east side of the island.

"We plugged our ears and after this a cloud of ash swept over us. The whole sky is full of ash, a fairly large cloud," she told Reuters.

Fiona Carter, a British tourist on the island of Panarea, some 27 km (17 miles) from Stromboli, heard the blast.

"We turned around to see a mushroom cloud coming from Stromboli. Everyone was in shock. Then red hot lava started running down the mountain towards the little village of Ginostra," she told Reuters.

"The cloud got bigger, white and grey. It enveloped Ginostra and now the cloud has covered Stromboli entirely. Several boats set off for Stromboli," she added.

Stefano Branca, an expert with the National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology (INGV), said there had been a "paroxysmal eruption" on the island, when high-pressure magma explodes from a shallow, underground reservoir.

"These are events of great intensity and quite rare," he told Reuters.

Tourists often climb to the 924-meter (3,000-foot) summit of the volcano and peer into its crater, with small puffs of molten rock regularly blasted into the sky. It was not clear if anyone was on the crater at the time of the blast.

According to the geology.com website, Stromboli is one of the most active volcanoes on the planet and has been erupting almost continuously since 1932.

The island was the setting for a 1950 movie starring Ingrid Bergman and, with other islands in the Aeolian archipelago, has become a favorite location in recent decades for holiday homes for the rich and famous.

Join Jerusalem Post Premium Plus now for just $5 and upgrade your experience with an ads-free website and exclusive content. Click here>> </s> A volcano on the Italian island of Stromboli erupted dramatically on Wednesday, reportedly killing a hiker, and sending tourists fleeing.

The volcano is known to be active, but on Wednesday there was a particularly powerful eruption.

Italian media reported that a hiker had been killed and their partner injued, but firefighters could not immediately confirm any casualties.

"It was like being in hell because of the rain of fire coming from the sky," Italian news agencies quoted local priest Giovanni Longo as saying.

He said it was not known if there were any hikers on the volcano at the time of the eruption, which caused fires around the village of Ginostra.

Italian media reported that some tourists had fled into the sea after the eruption, while others had barricaded themselves into homes.

Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) said, there were two huge explosions on the central-southern side of the volcano's crater at around 1446 GMT Wednesday.

The explosions were preceded by lava spills "from all the active mouths of the crater terrace," the INGV said, prompting a two-kilometre high plume of smoke.

A firefighting plane could not put out fires in the area because of the amount of smoke, Italian media reported.

The INGV said it was monitoring the situation.

Stromboli is part of the seven-island Eolian Archipelago just off Sicily in southern Italy. </s> MORE than 120,000 people have fled the region around the Mount Agung volcano on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali, fearing it will soon erupt.

Nyoman Parwata, an official at the disaster mitigation agency’s command post in Bali, said the number of evacuees has swelled to about 122,500.

They are scattered in more than 500 locations across the island famed for its beaches, lush green interior and elegant Hindu culture, taking shelter in temporary camps, sports centres and other public buildings.

The volcano has been at its highest alert level since Friday, sparking the massive exodus of villagers. Thousands of cows are also being evacuated. An exclusion zone around the mountain extends as far as 12km from the crater in places but officials say people further from the volcano are leaving too. Agung, which dominates the landscape in the northeast of the island, last erupted in 1963, killing more than 1100 people. It remained active for about a year.

Volcanologists say the recent dramatic escalation in tremors indicates an eruption is more likely than not, but they can’t say with certainty when it will happen.

“I would definitely be following the advice to stay outside the exclusion zone,” said Heather Handley, an assistant earth sciences professor at Sydney’s Macquarie University. The increase in tremors suggests an eruption is “imminent,” she said.

The mountain, about 70km to the northeast of the tourist hot spot of Kuta, is among more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia.

In case of an eruption, Indonesia plans to divert flights headed for Bali to ten other airports, including on nearby Lombok and the capital Jakarta.

Indonesia, an archipelago of thousands of islands, is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

The imminent eruption in Bali comes after the Vanuatu government decided they could not risk people’s lives and so ordered the compulsory evacuation of Ambae island, which is home to about 11,000 people.

Officials last weekend raised the activity measure of the Manaro volcano to level four and on Monday declared an emergency. At first, they relocated people close to the volcano to other parts of the island.

WEIRD ERUPTION THEORY

AS BALI’S Mt Agung volcano continues to rumble ominously, the locals are blaming tourists for angering the ancient mountain.

A local priest reportedly said Mount Agung is wrathful because “bule” (white people) had sex and menstruated on the mountain.

“The climbers did that,” he said.

Despite the warnings, Australian tourists on holiday in Bali say they are not worried and not trying to rush home to beat an eruption.

Late on Wednesday, Mt Agung recorded its biggest tremor so far, registering at 4.3. Ten airports around Indonesia are being prepared as alternatives if the expected eruption causes Bali’s airport to close. But experts still cannot predict when the mountain will erupt.

It is more than 70km from the tourist hot spots of Kuta and Seminyak.

While many Australian tourist remain unaffected by the impending eruption, some have spoken of being woken in the middle of the night to evacuate their hotels.

AUSSIE TOURISTS DIVIDED

Rory Eastick from Newcastle said he was woken by his Indonesian brother-in-law at 11.30pm and told to leave his hotel in Tulamben, on the northeast coast of Bali, immediately.

“It was quite a worrying moment because it was at that time we realised everyone in our hotel had already left,” he said.

“Family staying in another hotel were kicked out and made to find their own way to safety.”

Monique Correia from Perth said she was also told to pack her things and evacuate.

“The lady from my hotel has just told us to all pack our stuff and evacuate and drive back to Kuta now,” she said.

However, other tourists are feeling more relaxed about the situation. David and Kellie Smith, from Redhead in Newcastle, are on their first Bali holiday with their two daughters and say they are not concerned by the possibility of Mt Agung erupting.

They have spoken a lot with locals who say the most concern rests with the villagers closest to the mountain.

Like many Australians spoken to yesterday by News Corp Australia at Seminyak and Legian, their travel insurance appears sound, should the volcano erupt.

“We are all covered. I have spoken to our travel agent and she said as soon as she gets notice (of any problems) she will email me,” Ms Smith said, adding that they monitor social media for developments. “If the locals are not panicked, we are not too worried at the moment.”

The family arrived in Bali on September 16 just as Mt Agung was rumbling into action and the next day took a day trip, with a guide and driver, to Amed where they had spectacular views of Mt Agung before it was on alert.

RELATED: Aussie inmates among those evacuated from a Bali prison

“Honestly, we haven’t been too worried. We have had people ringing us (to find out what’s going on) but from what I understand there is not too much drama,” Mr Smith said. They are due to return home on Saturday.

Melbourne man Brett McKenzie was at the Double Six beach yesterday while his three sons, twins Ryan and Jackson, 13, and Bailey, 11, had a surf lesson.

The family arrived in Bali on Sunday and Mr McKenzie said he and his wife had no reservations about coming, knowing that Mt Agung was stirring.

He said they had thoroughly checked the DFAT Smartraveller advice before coming and had travel insurance.

“It is one of those things, it is a force of nature, unavoidable. If we have to stay longer (if the airport closes) we have to stay longer,” Mr McKenzie said. It was about taking personal responsibility and being aware of risks, taking note of the expert warnings.

“Our concern is more with the local Balinese people. These people are subsistence farmers ... in the villages and nearby surroundings and their livelihoods are at risk. That’s where our concern comes from, more than ourselves,” he said.

Mr McKenzie said due care was needed to avoid any risks, adding it was important to take responsibility for yourself, should Mt Agung erupt.

“I think one thing we are aware of is the unpredictability of the volcano,” he said.

He said while his family would be interested to see the volcano itself, they were concerned not to be traipsing up the mountain just to take a look with massive relief efforts underway.

“You don’t want thousands of people running up there making it difficult for them,” he said.

Throughout the day on Wednesday hundreds of earthquakes were recorded within Mt Agung. Between 6am and 12 noon, there were 521 earthquakes.

EVACUATIONS IN PLACE

The biggest tremor recorded so far came at 1.19pm yesterday registering at 4.3.

Thousands of people have been evacuated from the 12km exclusion zone around the mountain and who are sheltering in evacuation centres further down the mountain.

And shops around Bali reported yesterday having sold out of advanced face masks with filters as people rush to ensure they are stocked up. Many people were buying in bulk, saying they were donating to the relief effort or intended to volunteer when the eruption happened.

And children, who are in shelters with their parents, are now being organised to attend schools closest to the shelters where they are staying.

Children who have fled from a rumbling Bali volcano to makeshift camps are being entertained by social workers with music pic.twitter.com/eyr4wPGZ8S — AFP news agency (@AFP) September 27, 2017

In the Karangasem district, volunteers were helping with classes for some of the thousands of children whose schools within the exclusion zone around the volcano are now closed.

“So far the children look happy and are enjoying themselves,” said volunteer Yenni Ariyanti.

“They do not look worried or sad. Hopefully we can continue to maintain their excitement and keep them in good spirits.”

Bali’s Governor Made Pastika has urged Australians that Bali is safe despite the looming eruption of Mt Agung volcano.

TRAVEL WARNINGS

It comes as DFAT updated its travel warning late today, noting the potential for widespread ash fall outside the declared danger zone.

The new travel advice says: “Past eruptions of Agung volcano have shown this volcano’s potential to cause significant impacts to the island of Bali, including the potential for widespread ash fall outside the declared danger area surrounding the volcano. Depending on the weather conditions at the time of an eruption, an ash cloud could affect flights and ash fall may impact Denpasar and neighbouring airports in East Java and Lombok, causing widespread disruption to the travelling public. Contact your airline or tour operator directly to confirm travel plans.”

At the Klungkung evacuee shelter, large numbers of people, from the volcano slopes, are living inside a large indoor basketball court and sports arena while others are in tents outside. There have been problems with the tents during rain and Mr Pastika said this was the biggest problem now facing authorities.

The agency handling Mt Agung says it is still not possible to say when it would erupt but that the potency was now very large.

“To our brothers and sisters from abroad, of course Bali still safe,” Mr Pastika said, adding that the danger area is within a 12km perimeter of the mountain’s peak. He said there were many tourist areas away from the mountain which were more than safe.

Mr Pastika spoke to News Corporation today as he visited an emergency shelter for evacuees in Klungkung, which is currently housing more than 3800 people.

“The biggest problem is if the rain comes so that's why we are trying to move them to traditional village halls. People living the tents can’t stay there more than one month,” he said, for health and sanitation reasons.

At the Klungkung centre, as volunteers cooked food for the evacuees in huge vats, a local library brought its mobile book truck to the shelter so the children could borrow books to read.

Nearby an extended family of 15 shares a 6x4m tent. </s> Ten people were injured in a volcanic eruption of Mount Etna of Sicily in Italy on Thursday (March 16), when the flowing magma came in contact with the snow, triggering an explosion that sent rocks and stones flying into the air.

Barren Island volcano erupts again: Here's all you need to know about the only active volcano in India

Among the 20 injured were crew members of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Six of them were taken to hospitals in Catania and nearby Acireale as they suffered minor injuries.

According to media reports, Nino Borzi, the mayor of Nicolosi, the closest residential area on the island of Sicily, said that there were around 35 people in the area close to the explosion near the summits of Europe's biggest active volcano. The explosion came from a crater on the south-eastern side of the 3,000-metre peak.

BBC's global science correspondent, Rebecca Morelle, who was part of the team on the volcano at the time of the eruption, tweeted that getting pelted with stones from an erupting volcano was an experience that she would not like to have again.

While Morelle said the blast caused head injuries, burns, cuts and bruises, another volcanologist told her it was the most dangerous incident he had experienced in his 30-year career.

This was the third incident at Mt. Etna, which overlooks the city of Catania, in a span of three weeks. It spewed lava almost 200 metres into the sky.

"It's difficult to say whether this has been the most dangerous eruption in 30 years," Stefano Branca, a volcanologist at Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, told Guardian. "But if it had happened in August, when there isn't any snow, it wouldn't have been as significant. This type of eruption is an exception."

Mount Etna, which was declared a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2013, had faced a major eruption in 1992 when the town of Zafferana Etnea was in the path of the lava flow. Though some homes were buried by the lava, there was no loss of life.
One tourist is killed and several injured when Mt. Stromboli in Italy erupts.