At 3,330 meters (10,926 feet), Etna is the continent’s most active volcano and can burst into action several times in a year.

Wednesday’s eruption was short but explosive and the bubbling lava continued to fill one of the craters for the whole day.

Mountain guides working on the volcano, brought groups of tourists up to watch the spectacle and monitor the activity.

"It is enchanting to see a lake of black lava taking form as the activity continues and increases" said mountain guide Pietro Larosa.

"It is coming out now, in an old crater in the centre (of the volcano)," he added.

Hundreds of thousands of tourists from around the world flock to the Italian island of Sicily to be taken up to Etna's craters.

Only the lucky few are able to be witness the volcanic activity taking place. "I am here with a group of Americans and English and we are here on Etna the dynamic ever-changing fire and ice Etna," said an excited American tourist Mary Canaval. "And today it is erupting from the central crater, it is magnificent" she said.

The volcanic activity this time did not cause any disruption to nearby Catania's airport, with ash showers being very small. Mount Etna is believed to have the longest written record of eruptions than any other volcano. With its first recorded observation going back to 425 B.C. The last time lava flows endangered nearby villages was in 1992 when the town of Zafferana was in danger of being overrun.

The flows stopped only 850 meters (2788 feet) away from the town.

S/SH 11