Explosions audible in Stromboli village, alarm ended - 24 May 1995

According to a Stromboli resident, the alarm and access restrictions that have been declared at Stromboli for the past several weeks have been cancelled. Recently, the noise of explosions from the volcano has been audible in the village, and windows were rattling during some of the events in late April and early May. Due to a shift of wind, explosion noises have now become less distinct, but "roaring" is still occasionally heard in the village, the resident said.

Note that the info on the end of the alarm is informal! During our stay on the island, there were many rumours among residents concerning the alarm and why it had been declared. Many of these rumours were false. It may thus be possible that the alarm a) still exists; b) will be implemented again soon.

Alarm restricted to summit area - 28 May 1995

Roberto Carniel (University of Udine, Italy) reports that the alarm has not completely been cancelled but applies still to the summit area of Stromboli as of 26 May. However, apparently no one cares and numerous tourists are again staying on the summit. Eruptive activity, as according to seismic data from Udine, has been slightly increasing after a low in early May, but no visual confirmation is available so far. I will add new reports as they come in.

Figure 5-14: Crater 1 seen from the northeast on 30 April 1995. Strong steam emission hides features within the crater. Pizzo sopra la Fossa is to the left. The photo was supplied by Richard Pichl, University of Prague.

New reports about Stromboli's activity - 14 June 1995

According to the communications of Richard Pichl (University of Prague, Czech Republic) and Ulrich Knittel (University of Aachen; presently at University of Mainz, Germany), Stromboli has returned to its normal eruptive conditions; access restrictions to the summit area, however, still apply. It is allowed to climb the volcano only with guides and to stay no longer than one hour on the summit; overnight stays are not permitted. Well...

During the last days of April and early May 1995, spectacular explosions occurred about twice per hour from a vent in the northernmost part of Crater 1 (it had started erupting on 22 or 23 April, after a period of unusual quiet in Crater 1). Ejecta were thrown obliquely to the north and northwest, onto Sciara del Fuoco. Cannon shot-like bangs accompanied the eruptions. A small vent somewhere in the central part of Crater 1 had only 1 weak eruption in the night of 1-2 May. The overall view of the craters was severely hampered by copious steam and gas emissions.

On 6-7 June 1995, eruptions occurred from at least four vents, two within Crater 1 and the other two within Crater 3. There were about 5 eruptions per hour, the longest quiet intervals ranging from 25 to 30 minutes. Ulrich Knittel describes occasional simultaneous ejection of a pair of ash and scoria columns from Crater 1, probably from two neighboring vents. Vent 3/1 displayed its usual continuous incandescence and spattering (indicating that the lava pond is still active); vent 3/2 made ash and scoria ejections. These eruptions were longer and more powerful than those from Crater 1, most notably during the night. Also Ulrich Knittel notes that there was a considerable amount of gas and vapor emitted. In any case, increased vapor emission often coincides with humid atmospheric conditions and is usually strongest during sunset and sunrise.

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