VIBO VALENTIA, ITALY - JULY 25: Sunset over the Stromboli Volcano, a candidate for UNESCO World ... [+]
A violent eruption jolted residents of the Italian volcanic island of Stromboli awake at 3 a.m. Sunday.
The National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology’s observatory at Etna reports that its network recorded a loud explosion and eruption, sending lava and debris falling around the crater of the volcano and slope known as the Sciara del Fuoco, which is sometimes visited by hikers.
Webcam video shows “lava bombs” raining down on the area.
Data from the Laboratory of Experimental Geophysics at the University of Florence indicate that the eruption lasted for about four minutes before conditions on the island returned to relative normal
“According to geophysical data, this morning's explosion was about 10 times stronger than the average size of explosions at the volcano and comparable to the large eruption on 15 March 2017, but still about one order of magnitude smaller than the two paroxysms last year on 3 July and 28 August 2019,” writes Dr. Tom Pfeiffer of VolcanoDiscovery.com.
The July 3, 2019 eruption on the island killed one hiker and sent other tourists wading into the sea to seek safety.
There have been no reports of injuries or other damage as a result of Sunday’s eruption so far.
Stromboli is a very active volcano and is thought to have been consistently active, more or less, for perhaps thousands of years.
