The Sezione di Catania - Osservatorio Etneo (INGV) reported that eruptive activity continued at Stromboli during 7-13 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 low-intensity explosions at a rate of 7-14 events per hour, ejecting lapilli and bombs less than 80 m above the vents. Spattering continued and was sometimes intense and continuous for long periods of time during 8-9 and 13 October. Explosions at the vents in Area C-S ejected tephra over 250 m above the vent. Intense spattering in Area N on 8 October was followed by the formation of a lava flow at around 1643 that descended the Sciara del Fuoco, stopping before the coastline. The lava flow was cooling and no longer active by 1930. Intense spattering again caused the overflow of lava the next day; at 1220 on 9 October lava flowed down the Sciara del Fuoco and again stopped before reaching the coastline; the flow was cooling by 1432. 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