Small volcanic rocks rained down during Mt Etna's eruption, a Maltese man who lives in Sicily told The Malta Independent

Silvio Sultana, who lives 35 kilometers away from Etna, described the volcano's eruption.

"The eruption caused a lot of volcanic ash and debris, consisting of small volcanic rocks which scattered the streets and homes of the people living here. It was raining small rocks on cars and other objects outside."

Sultana said that although the rocks were pebble size and weighed almost nothing, there was some damage to cars and objects they landed on. "Obviously people started to panic as this is not something you see everyday. People wanted to evacuate, but it was all a bit of an exaggeration. But yes, there was that fear and in all fairness, in a neighbouring town closer to Etna, children found larger volcanic rocks in the school yard. They were collecting and showing these rocks to each other. It was almost a game."

"An event like this doesn't happen that often. The mayor of Catania had to step in and declare that no one could use motorcycles and all automobiles must keep to the speed limit of 30 kilometers per hour. This is due to the different levels of ash and volcanic rock present in the streets. Other than this decree, there were no other warnings issued by the relevant authorities", Sultana said.

Tuesday's eruption, which featured spectacular displays of gushing lava, had also forced the temporary closure of Sicily's Catania Airport, a frequent occurrence when Etna is in an active phase.

The Associated Press reports that residents and local teams cleaned streets, courtyards and cars, bagging the ash for municipal collectors to take it away.