Mount Etna volcano calms down

CATANIA, Italy, April 11 (UPI) -- Italian officials said 11,000-foot-tall Mount Etna, one of the most active volcanoes in the world, has calmed down after two days of activity.

But volcano experts said in an ANSA report Monday that Europe's tallest active volcano might have fallen back into a short-lived slumber and another "active phase may just be around the corner."

On Sunday, the volcano blasted lava and shards of magma more than 1,200 feet into the air and a plume of black smoke rose more than 2 miles above the crater.

The wind carried fragments of the eruption to towns southeast of the large eastern Sicilian city of Catania but flight operations at the city's airport were unaffected, the report said.