Erupting volcanoes

Photographers in different parts of the world have been busy covering active volcanoes in recent weeks. In Indonesia, Italy, El Salvador and Japan, the craters in the earth erupted with lava, gases, or ash. People observe an eruption at the South East Crater of Mt. Etna from the monitoring station of the Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology at the Schiena dell'Asino, near Catania, in Sicily, southern Italy, early Dec. 30. Mt. Etna is Europe's most active volcano at 3,350 meters. (Salvatore Allegra/Associated Press)