Mount Etna eruption captured in time-lapse footage

FRANCAVILLA DI SICILIA, Italy, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Sicily's Mount Etna, Europe's highest active volcano, shot fire and ash into the air in a dramatic eruption captured in time-lapse footage.

Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology said the eruption was the largest in the past two decades and threw a column of ash some 4.3 miles into the air over the 10,810-foot peak.

The eruption, which was Mount Etna's first in about two years, began with short-lived Strombolian eruptions of lava Thursday and intensified Friday.

The eruption was recorded in time-lapse footage shared online.