INGV-CT reported that on 19 December a major explosion from a vent in the southern part of Stromboli's crater terrace occurred at 0956, coincident with explosive sequence consisting of three discrete seismic events. During the last few days of December the "S1" vent produced frequent explosions of greater intensity than those of the preceding days. Jets rose 200 m above the crater terrace. On 27 December, the frequency of the explosions rose to 11-14 per hour. The "S1" vent is immediately next to the "S" vent, the source of the 19 December explosion.

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)