Mount Stromboli has been in almost continuous
eruption for the past 2,000–5,000 years; 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. 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. Additionally, 6 people suffered minor injuries due to the eruption. 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 . On 4 July 2024, Stromboli erupted along with
Mount Etna, and the Italian Civil Protection Department (Protezione Civile) issued the highest alert level. ==Settlements==