ROME, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Italian volcano Etna in Catania, a city of eastern Sicily, has started blowing lava from one of its main craters but the latest bout of activity should not endanger local residents, experts said Monday.

    Lava from the south-east crater, which first started showing renewed signs of life at the end of March, was flowing down towards an uninhabited area, the local media reported.

    The sound of the mountain belching out lava could be heard for miles around, civil defense officials said.

    Seismologists said the latest eruption cycle was unlikely to cause disruption, unlike the most recent one in October-November, in which Etna sprayed the nearby city of Catania with ash and the local airport had to be closed down for a few days.

    Those eruptions were on the other side of the volcano, coming from a south-west crater.

    Before that, in October 2002, a series of tremors and eruptions damaged buildings and left 1,000 people temporarily homeless.

    But these have been minor incidents, reports said.