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] 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".[6]
Etymology
The name Stromboli is derived from the Ancient Greek name Strongýlē, (Στρογγύλη) which was derived from στρογγύλος (strongýlos, 'round'), after the volcano's round, conical appearance when seen from a distance.[7][8]
Height and shape
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]
The Sciara del Fuoco ("stream of fire") is a big 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 lies Strombolicchio, the volcanic plug remnant of the original volcano.
Volcano
Eruption of Stromboli
Mount Stromboli has been in almost continuous eruption for the past 2,000–5,000 years;[6] its last serious one occurred in 1921.[4] A pattern of eruption is maintained in which explosions occur at the summit craters, with mild to moderate eruptions of incandescent volcanic bombs, a type of tephra, at intervals ranging from minutes to hours. This pattern of Strombolian 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 in 2002, the first in 17 years, and again in 2003, 2007, and 2013–14. Volcanic gas emissions from this volcano are measured by a multi-component gas analyzer system, which detects pre-eruptive degassing of rising magma, improving prediction of volcanic activity.[11]
On 3 July 2019, two major explosive events occurred at around 16:46 local time, alongside 20 additional minor explosive events identified by Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology. A hiker near the volcano's summit died after being struck by flying debris when the eruption began.[12][13][14] Additionally, 6 people suffered minor injuries due to the eruption.[15]
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 resulting ash column reached a height of 2,000 m (6,600 ft).[16]
On 4 July 2024, Stromboli erupted along with Etna, as Protezione Civile issued the highest alert level.[17][18]
Settlements
From a helicopter
Two villages, San Bartolo and San Vincenzo, lie in the northeast, while the smaller village Ginostra lies in the southwest.[19] Administratively, they are one of the frazioni (unit of a commune and municipality) of Lipari, Messina.
In the early 20th century, a few thousand people inhabited the island,[20] but after several waves of emigration, the population has numbered a few hundred since the mid-1950s.[21] 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.[22]
Rising Appalachia's 2015 song "Stromboli" was written on and titled after the island. The studio version appears on Wider Circles (2015), and a live version appears on Alive.[24]
An Italian-American savory pastry is named stromboli after the island.
The fiction thriller novel titled "The Book Of The Dead" features the island as part of its conclusion. The novel is written by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.
^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). Retrieved 14 June 2021.
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