Elena Schiera, a 19-year-old from Palermo, Sicily, was enjoying a day out on the water off the coast of Italy, yesterday, when she and her family were forced to make a dash for the shore as a nearby volcano erupted.

The blast was described as a paroxysmal event that produced a pyroclastic flow.

That means that it was big, unpredictable and dangerous, producing a fast-moving mixture of gas, rock and volcanic ash that stretched several hundred metres into the sea, reports The New York Post.

You can see the blast here in a video that looks like something out of a movie:

For those who need reminding, you can get too close to an erupting volcano. #WednesdayThoughts#italy #Stromboli #volcano pic.twitter.com/UZiOeSYKtF

— ~Marietta (@MariettaDaviz) August 28, 2019

If you found that thrilling, you might also enjoy this footage of an erupting volcano in Hawaii last year.

Here’s more footage of the recent eruption:

Wednesday’s blast was recorded just after noon, according to the National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology. Nobody was hurt – this time.

In the July eruption, the volcano releasing hot trapped magma in a powerful explosion that killed the 35-year-old hiker, Massimo Imes, and covered the popular tourist destination in ash.

Schiera managed to capture the boat’s nail-biting escape from the pyroclastic flow on her phone camera.

CNN spoke to her about the experience:

“We were sailing at a safe distance as per ordinance, when all of a sudden we heard a loud bang and saw a large black cloud spewing out of the Stromboli crater and pouring into the sea,” she told CNN.

“We immediately increased the speed of the boat to the maximum, even though, being a sailboat, the speed was still limited. Then the cloud arrived at sea and began to advance quickly towards us,” Schiera said. “At that moment the panic broke out because we had the cloud a few meters away from our stern, but thanks to my father who was at the helm we managed to get away just in time because then the cloud started to rise again.”

This is the second time in two months that this particular volcano has erupted, so if you find yourself in Italy, you might want to be alert.

Thanks, Pat

[source:newyorkpost&cnn]