INGV reported that during 17-23 January activity at Stromboli was characterized by ongoing explosions from five vents in Area N (North Crater area) and two vents in Area C-S (South-Central Crater area). Explosions from Area N vents (N1 and N2) averaged 7-14 events per hour; explosions from two vents in the N1 vent ejected lapilli and bombs 80 m high and those at three N2 vents ejected material less than 80 m high. Spattering at N2 had been intense the week before, depositing material onto the upper part of the Sciara del Fuoco that then rolled down the flank to the coastline on 16 January; spattering was again intense on 22 January. No explosions occurred at the S1 and C vents in Area C-S; explosions at the two S2 vents occurred at a rate of 3-4 per hour and ejected coarse material mixed with fine ash higher than 80 m.

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)