The Mount Etna volcano erupted on Monday, spewing ash as several minor earthquakes hit the region, and prompting a partial closure of the Sicilian airspace around the mountain.
Italy's national institute for geophysics and vulcanology (INGV) counted more than 130 seismic shocks in the zone, with the strongest reaching a magnitude of 4.0.
"The eruption occurred on the side of Etna," Boris Behncke, a vulcanologist at INGV, told AFP.
"It's the first lateral eruption in more than 10 years, but it doesn't seem to be dangerous."