Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) reported that eruptive activity continued at Stromboli during 8-14 July. Lava flows that started on 4 July from two eruptive vents, located at approximately 485 and 510 m a.s.l. along the Sciara del Fuoco, had ended by 12 July.

Starting at around 1208 on 11 July (UTC), a series of explosive events over about 8 minutes generated pyroclastic flows that rapidly descended to the shoreline and continued into and across the surface of the sea. The first explosion took place in Area C-S, releasing moderately hot ash. Another explosion from Area N then created an eruption column that reached approximately 5 km above sea level and dispersed towards the WSW. Almost simultaneously, a pyroclastic flow descended along the Sciara del Fuoco and reached the coastline in about 23 seconds, traveling at a speed of approximately 58 m/s. The sequence concluded with a series of secondary pyroclastic flows between 1210 and 1215. Both effusive and explosive activities ceased within hours after these events, except for a single final explosion at 0828 on 12 July that triggered a small landslide from the exterior of the N crater.

Thermal anomalies with high-level thermal flux values (greater than 100 MW) were identified in satellite images during both the effusive and explosive activity. The thermal flux values slightly increased at 1157 on 11 July, about 11 minutes before the explosion sequence, and then dropped at 1352 (SEVIRI sensor onboard the Meteosat Second Generation satellite). Dipartimento della Protezione Civile maintained the Alert Level at Red (the highest level on a four-level scale).

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.

Sources: Sezione di Catania - Osservatorio Etneo (INGV), Dipartimento della Protezione Civile