Sezione di Catania - Osservatorio Etneo (INGV) reported that eruptive activity continued at Stromboli during 30 September-6 October with notable events on 1 and 6 October. Webcam images showed Strombolian activity at two vents in Area N within the upper part of the Sciara del Fuoco and from at least two vents in Area C-S (South-Central Crater) on the crater terrace. The vents in Area N continued to produce explosions at a rate of 5-8 events per hour, ejecting lapilli and bombs less than 80 m above the vents. Spattering continued and was sometimes intense, particularly on 30 September and 1 and 6 October. Explosions at the vent in Area C-S mainly occurred at a rate of 1-3 events per hour and ejected tephra over 250 m above the vent.

Intense spattering in Area N on 1 October was followed by the formation of a lava flow at around 1500 that descended the Sciara del Fuoco and accumulated at the coastline. The lava flow was cooling and no longer active by 2100. Explosions at both crater areas occurred during a three-minute period on 6 October. At 0217 an energetic explosion at Area N lasted 50 seconds and ejected lapilli, bombs, and lava fragments that fell in a rose pattern, predominantly along the Sciara del Fuoco. The explosion was followed by at least three more notable explosions at Area C-S and additional smaller ones; the explosions ejected material that mostly rolled down the Sciara del Fuoco and did not reach the coastline. Over the next two hours spattering at Area N fed a lava flow that advanced down the Sciara del Fuoco. The Alert Level remained at Yellow (the second lowest 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