Wall Built to Hold Back Mt. Etna’s Lava
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ZAFFERANA ETNA, Sicily — Soldiers put the finishing touches Tuesday on a 50-foot-high, 825-foot-long earthen wall at the base of Mt. Etna, declaring victory--for the moment--against the volcano’s 10th major eruption this century.
Nervous citizens of Zafferana Etna, a town of 7,000 in the shadow of the volcano, expressed relief. A four-mile flow of lava had been heading for the village until it ran out of energy a few days ago.
“You can say the towns are out of danger,” volcanologist Franco Barberi said, but he added: “It depends how long the eruption lasts.”
Etna began its latest eruption in mid-December. The main stream of lava--a smoking river about 250 feet across--has stopped about 1 1/4 miles from Zafferana Etna.
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