Stromboli

For other uses, see Stromboli (disambiguation).

Mt. Stromboli
Elevation	926 m (3,038 ft)
Prominence	Aeolian Islands, north of Sicily (Italy)
Location
Coordinates	38.789°N 15.213°E / 38.789; 15.213
Geology
Type	Stratovolcano
Age of rock	unknown
Last eruption	2012 (continuing)
Climbing
Easiest route	Hike

Stromboli (Sicilian: Struògnuli, Ancient Greek: Στρογγύλη, Strongulē) is a small island in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the north coast of Sicily, containing one of the three active volcanoes in Italy. It is one of the eight Aeolian Islands, a volcanic arc north of Sicily. This name is a corruption of the Ancient Greek name Strongulē which was given to it because of its round swelling form. The island's population is between 400 and 850. The volcano has erupted many times, and is constantly active with minor eruptions, often visible from many points on the island and from the surrounding sea, giving rise to the island's nickname "Lighthouse of the Mediterranean". The last major eruption was on April 13, 2009. Stromboli stands 926 m (3,034 ft) above sea level, but actually rises over 2,000 m (6,500 ft) above the sea floor. There are three active craters at the peak. A significant geological feature of the volcano is the Sciara del Fuoco ("Stream of fire"), a big horseshoe-shaped depression generated in the last 13,000 years by several collapses on the northwestern side of the cone. Two kilometres to the northeast lies Strombolicchio, the volcanic plug remnant of the original volcano.

The volcano

Mt Stromboli has been in almost one continuous eruption for the past 2000 years. This pattern of eruption has been maintained, in which explosions occur at the summit craters with mild to moderate eruptions of incandescent volcanic bombs at intervals ranging from minutes to hours. This characteristic Strombolian eruption, as it is known, is also observed at other volcanoes worldwide. Eruptions from the summit craters typically result in a few second-lasting mild energetic bursts emitting ash, incandescent lava fragments and lithic blocks up to a few hundred meters in height. Stromboli's activity is almost exclusively explosive, but lava flows do occur at times when volcanic activity is high: an effusive eruption in 2002 was its first in 17 years, but took place again in 2003 and 2007.

Settlements

The two villages San Bartolo and San Vincenzo lie in the northeast while the smaller village Ginostra lies in the southwest. Administratively, they are one of the frazione of Lipari.

In the early 1900s a few thousand people inhabited the island, but after several emigrations the population numbered a few hundred by mid 1950s.