INGV reported that lava continued to flow from the vent that opened on 4 December just downslope of the N2 vent in Stromboli’s Area N. The flow had descended the Sciara del Fuoco and reached the coast by around 1700 on 4 December. By 7 December only the top third of the flow was active while the rest of the flow was cooling. The flow was last confirmed to be active in webcam images on 8 December, but afterwards the webcam stream was interrupted. Explosions at three vents in Area N ejected coarse material (bombs and lapilli) less than 80 m high at a rate of 1-7 explosions per hour during 5-11 December.

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)