Europe's tallest active volcano, Italy's Mount Etna, continued to erupt on Sunday, spewing out volcanic ash in the area around Catania.

A blanket of ash and fragments of rock covered roads and buildings in the nearby town of Giarre, forcing residents to employ brooms and dustpans to sweep volcanic residue from the streets.

The volcano's south-eastern crater is at the epicenter of the activity that began on February 16, lighting up Etna seven times in the past days.

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Earlier in the week, the active volcano lit up the night sky with explosions, lava fountains and ash plumes. 

According to the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) in Catania, the lava fountain on Wednesday reached a height of around 400 meters. 

"We are observing stronger than ordinary activity, with more magma rising from the pipes and richer in gas," Stefano Branca, head of the INGV said.

CLICK ON THE ARROWS IN GALLERY BELOW TO SEE THE IMPACT OF ETNA ON NEARBY TOWNS

Keen photographers in Sicily have been capturing the lava trickling down the flank of the 3,300-meter-high mountain, flooding social media with the impressive images.

Branca said on Friday that overall, Etna's activity was similar to the more than 200 eruptions to have happened since 1998 and there was no risk for the people and cities around the mountain.

"Every episode lasts around one hour," Branca said.

The last major eruption was in 1992.