INGV reported that both explosive and effusive activity at Stromboli occurred during 2-8 January at four vents in Area N, within the upper part of the Sciara del Fuoco, and at one vent in the Area C-S (South-Central Crater area) in the crater terrace area. The explosions were variable in intensity and ejected coarse material (bombs and lapilli) 80-150 m at a rate of 3-10 explosions per hour. Intense spattering from all four vents occurred during the week. Explosive activity at the Central-South area (CS) ejected fine-to-coarse material as high as 250 m above the vent at a rate of 1-4 explosions per hour.

At 2136 on 2 January lava overflowed vents in the N2 area, after a period of intense spattering. The lava flowed part way down the Sciara del Fuoco, likely channeled in the ravine that had formed in October, out of view from webcams. The flow was well-fed for a couple of hours but then effusion slowed or stopped, and it began to cool. The same activity occurred again, with a lava overflow occurring at 0224 on 4 January, traveling about the same distance, and cooling within a few hours.

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)