INGV reported that both explosive and effusive activity at Stromboli occurred during 23-29 January at four vents in Area N, within the upper part of the Sciara del Fuoco, and at two vents in the Area C-S (South-Central Crater area) in the crater terrace area. Explosions at vents N1 and N2 in Area N were variable in intensity and ejected coarse material (bombs and lapilli) 80-150 m at a rate of 4-6 explosions per hour. Intense spattering occasionally occurred at N2 vents. Explosive activity at the Central-South area (CS) ejected fine-to-coarse material as high as 150 m above the vent at a rate of 6-7 explosions per hour during 23-27 January; the rate decreased to less than one event per hour the rest of the week.

At 1419 on 24 January lava overflowed vents in the N2 area after a period of intense spattering. The lava flowed partially down the Sciara del Fuoco, and by the next morning, they were cooling. A major explosion began at 1007 on 30 January that lasted three minutes long. Coarse pyroclastic material was ejected several hundred meters high and was deposited on the crater terrace and the upper parts of the Sciara del Fuoco. An ash cloud quickly dispersed to the S.

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)