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It was business as usual when Mount Etna, the active volcano on the Italian island of Sicily, erupted for the fifth time since the beginning of the year on Saturday afternoon, the Daily Mail reports. The eruption was brief but intense, sweeping enough ash to close Catania's Fontanarossa airport overnight, a measure that was likewise required for its eruption last May. But lately, the volcanic eruptions on the island have been linked to some very odd things...

It started last month, when large numbers of locals turned up for work early. As chatter over this unprecedented occurrence grew louder, two local Sicilians organized a Facebook page to compare notes. It came to light that for thousands of people, digital clocks and watchers, from computers to alarm clocks, were all running 15 minutes fast. RIA Novosti also reported that in Palermo digital clocks and watches in Sicily were running more than 15 minutes fast. One of the people who started the page, Francesco Nicosia, told French online magazine Rue89 that, "I realized something was wrong when I started getting to work earlier. After some investigation I noticed that I wasn't the only one who was on time, which is quite rare here in Sicily."