Facts about Stromboli volcano

The island lies about 64.5 km (40.1 mi) off the northern coast of Sicily. Together with sixteen surrounding islands, it forms the Aeolian Islands archipelago. The archipelago consists of 7 large and 10 small islands of volcanic origin.

It has an area of 12.6 km2 (4.9 sq mi) and rises up to 926 m (3.038 ft) above sea level.

The fertile volcanic soil on Stromboli's slopes is favorable for growing grapevines. Tourism is also very popular on the island.

Most of the time there are only minor eruptions, but every few years there are more serious eruptions. The last major eruption of the volcano took place in 2019.

Volcanologists estimate that the period of activity may have begun between 3000 and 1000 BC.

The name is derived from the volcano, of course, and it is characterized by mild eruptions, with more violent eruptions occurring very rarely. Strombolian eruptions are capable of ejecting cinders, lava bombs, and lapilli to heights of several dozen to several hundred meters. In the Volcanic Explosivity Index, which has an open-ended scale (with magnitude 8 recorded on Earth to date), strombolian eruptions are classified as having a magnitude of 1 to 2. Another characteristic of strombolian eruptions is regular explosion intervals that vary from seconds to minutes. Lava flows in strombolian eruptions are more viscous but short-lasting.

Stratovolcanoes are cone-shaped mountains composed of many layers of lava and other pyroclastic materials that build up on top of each other. Like cider cone volcanoes, stratovolcanoes have steep slopes.

These first eruptions, dated back to 200 thousand years ago, are responsible for the formation of Stromboli Island. A remnant of the former activity of the original volcano is a small island northeast of Stromboli - Strombolicchio.

In Italian, "Strombolicchio" means "little Stromboli." On the top of this small island there is now a lighthouse, which can be reached by climbing over two hundred steps.

The eruptions of the upper craters are usually brief but violent. They usually eject lava, ash, and cinders several hundred meters above the cone.

Jules Verne in his book "Journey to the Center of the Earth," ends his novel with the three protagonists escaping to the surface via the Stromboli volcano shaft.

The volcano is also mentioned in "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" by Friedrich Nietzsche.

Alexander Dumas also wrote about Stromboli.

The movie'scast includes Ingrid Bergman, Mario Vitale and Renzo Cesana.