INGV reported that multiple vents on Stromboli’s crater terrace were active during 15-21 July, though the exact number was unknown due to the unfavorable positions of the cameras. Vents in Area N (north crater area, NCA) produced low-to-medium-intensity explosions at a rate of 4-10 events per hour, ejecting lapilli and bombs less than 150 m high. The vents of Area C-S (South Central crater area) generated explosions of intensities variable between low and very high and at a rate of 6-17 events per hour. Tephra was ejected over 200 m high. Lava from Area C-S vents continued to travel down the S part of the Sciara del Fuoco shedding blocks that rolled all the way to the coastline.

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)