The island, with an area of 12.6 square kilometres (4.9 sq mi),[4] represents the upper third of the volcano.[5] Its population was about 500 as of 2016[update].[2] Thevolcano 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".[6]
The name Stromboli is derived from theAncient Greek nameStrongýlē (Στρογγύλη), which was derived fromstrongýlos (στρογγύλος'round'), after the volcano's round, conical appearance when seen from a distance.[7][8]
Stromboli stands 926 metres (3,038 ft) above sea level,[9]and over 2,700 metres (8,900 ft) above the sea floor.[5]
The area of Stromboli island is 12.6 square kilometres (4.9 sq mi).[4]
As of June 2024, there are two active craters at the peak, each with multiple vents showing volcanic activity and lava flows.[10]
TheSciara del Fuoco ("stream of fire") is a large horseshoe-shaped depression created in the last 13,000 years by several collapses on the northwestern side of the cone. Approximately 2 kilometres (1+1⁄4 miles) northeast liesStrombolicchio, thevolcanic plug remnant of the original volcano.
Mount Stromboli has been in almost continuouseruption for the past 2,000–5,000 years;[6] its last serious one occurred on 11 September, 1930 when 6 people were killed.[11] A pattern of eruption is maintained in which explosions occur at the summit craters, with mild to moderate eruptions of incandescentvolcanic bombs, a type oftephra, at intervals ranging from minutes to hours. This pattern ofStrombolian eruption, as it is known, is also observed at other volcanoes worldwide.
Eruptions from the summit craters typically result in a few short, mild, but energetic bursts, ranging up to a few hundred meters in height, containing ash, incandescent lava fragments, and stone blocks. Stromboli's activity is almost exclusively explosive, but lava flows do occur at times when volcanic activity is high: an effusive eruption occurred in2002, the first in 17 years, and again in 2003, 2007, and 2013–14. Volcanic gas emissions from this volcano are measured by amulti-component gas analyzer system, which detects pre-eruptive degassing of rising magma, improvingprediction of volcanic activity.[12]
On 3 July 2019, two major explosive events occurred at around 16:46 local time, alongside 20 additional minor explosive events identified by Italy'sNational Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology. A hiker near the volcano's summit died after being struck by flying debris when the eruption began.[13][14][15] Additionally, 6 people suffered minor injuries due to the eruption.[16]
On 28 August 2019, at 10:16 local time, an explosive eruption sent a pyroclastic flow down the volcano's northern flank and into the sea, where it continued for several hundred meters before collapsing. The resultingash column reached a height of 2,000 m (6,600 ft).[17]
On 4 July 2024, Stromboli erupted along withMount Etna, and the Italian Civil Protection Department (Protezione Civile) issued the highest alert level.[18][19]
Two villages, San Bartolo and San Vincenzo, lie in the northeast, while the smaller villageGinostra lies in the southwest.[20] Administratively, they are one of thefrazioni (unit of a commune and municipality) ofLipari,Messina.
In the early 20th century, a few thousand people inhabited the island,[21] but after several waves of emigration, the population has numbered a few hundred since the mid-1950s.[22] The population on the island was about 500 as of 2016[update].[2]
In addition to Italian, a derivative of the Sicilian dialect that is called Aeolian is generally spoken on this and the other Aeolian islands.[23]
Rising Appalachia's 2015 song "Stromboli" was written on and titled after the island. The studio version appears onWider Circles (2015), and a live version appears onAlive.[25]
The lyrics of theWoody Guthrie song "Ingrid Bergman" (set to music & released on the 1998 albumMermaid Avenue byBilly Bragg &Wilco) focus on images of the actress in the Rossellini filmStromboli, and erotic references to the island's volcanic nature.
^Strabo (1903) [1877]. Meineke, A. (ed.)."The Geography of Strabo". Translated by Hamilton, H.C.; Falconer, W. Leipzig: Teubner – via Perseus Digital Library.
^abScheffel, Richard L.; Wernet, Susan J., eds. (1980).Natural Wonders of the World. United States: Reader's Digest Association, Inc. pp. 360–361.ISBN0-89577-087-3.
^Strabo (1892).The Geography of Strabo. Bohn's classical library,v. 74-76. Vol. 1. Translated by Hamilton, H.C.; Falconer, W. London: George Bell & Sons. p. 419.footnote 4 of Book VI, Chapter II, §11
^Bunbury, Edward Herbert (1856)."Aeoliae Insulae". In Smith, William (ed.).Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. Vol. 1. London: Walton and Maberly. pp. 51–52.
^Zampaglione, Francesca (10 August 2015)."Lipari news e curiosita' dalle isole eolie" [The Aeolian dialect and its linguistic influences].Lipari News (in Italian). Retrieved14 June 2021.
.jpg)
