INGV reported that eruptive activity continued at Stromboli during 25-31 December. Webcam images showed Strombolian activity at three vents in Area N (one at N1 and two at N2), within the upper part of the Sciara del Fuoco, and from two vents at S2 in Area C-S (South-Central Crater) in the crater terrace. The average daily totals of explosions at both Area N and Area C-S vents were at normal levels with explosions ejecting mixtures of ash, bombs, and lapilli. Spattering occurred at S2, and at N2 during 27-30 December. A series of six explosions and a brief period of lava fountaining were recorded during 2252-2257 on 30 December. The first explosion was very large and ejected pyroclastic material onto the Sciara del Fuoco. The following five explosions were smaller than the first, but still larger than average. The Dipartimento della Protezione Civile maintained the Alert Level at Yellow (the second 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