On 9 February Sezione di Catania - Osservatorio Etneo reported that after about three weeks of normal explosive activity, new, small lava overflows again occurred on Stromboli's crater terrace. The first overflow started in the morning of 8 February, producing a small lava flow that descended the upper NW slope of the Sciara del Fuoco, and ceased during the afternoon. The second overflow began shortly after midnight on 9 February and produced a lava flow that traveled N. Bad weather prevented surveillance video transmission after 0125; when the transmission resumed at 1000, the feeding of the lava flow had diminished, and the active flow front was retreating upslope, generating frequent rockfalls. In the late afternoon of 9 February lava effusion ceased altogether, but resumed once more during the early morning hours of 10 February, generating a small flow that slowly advanced downslope for a few tens of meters. The lava front continuously produced incandescent rockfalls. During the day, lava emission progressively diminished, and ceased completely in the late afternoon.

Geological Summary. Spectacular incandescent nighttime explosions at Stromboli have long attracted visitors to the "Lighthouse of the Mediterranean" in the NE Aeolian Islands. This volcano has lent its name to the frequent mild explosive activity that has characterized its eruptions throughout much of historical time. The small island is the emergent summit of a volcano that grew in two main eruptive cycles, the last of which formed the western portion of the island. The Neostromboli eruptive period took place between about 13,000 and 5,000 years ago. The active summit vents are located at the head of the Sciara del Fuoco, a prominent scarp that formed about 5,000 years ago due to a series of slope failures which extends to below sea level. The modern volcano has been constructed within this scarp, which funnels pyroclastic ejecta and lava flows to the NW. Essentially continuous mild Strombolian explosions, sometimes accompanied by lava flows, have been recorded for more than a millennium.

Source: Sezione di Catania - Osservatorio Etneo (INGV)