The Civil Protection has ordered the passage of alert for the volcano Stromboli from the level orange at the level red and the operational phase of pre-alarmThe Aeolian volcano is in fact in intense and violent activity. Department head Fabrizio Curcio has called a meeting of the Operations Committee for 9am to coordinate and organize prevention, monitoring and protection actions for the population on the island.
The National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, Etnean Observatory, reported that yesterday at 16:18 a pyroclastic flow occurred on Stromboli that rapidly developed along the Sciara del Fuoco, reaching the coastline and spreading into the sea for several hundred meters. It is also possible to observe that the lava flow produced by the vent located at an altitude of 700 meters above sea level and that spreads along the Sciara del Fuoco has reached the coastline. The lava flow is still well fed. From the Sciara del Fuoco a column of ash rises up to a height of about two kilometers. At 4.17 pm, a sudden and significant increase in the amplitude of the seismic signal was also observed, which reached a very high level where it currently remains.
“The passage of the alert level is based on the reports of the phenomena and on the dangerousness assessments made available by the Competence Centers”, is explained in a note. The raising of the alert determines the strengthening of the system of monitoring of the volcano and the connection informative between the scientific community and the other components and operational structures of the National Civil Protection Service.
The decision to raise the alert for Stromboli to red level “was adopted in light of the assessments that emerged during the meeting with the Competence Centers and the Department of Civil Protection of the Sicilian Region. The meeting was called following the rapid evolution of the activities that are affecting the volcano. The change in alert level is based on the reports of the phenomena and the hazard assessments made available by the Competence Centers, which for Stromboli – as explained in the Civil Protection note – are the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (Etna Observatory, Vesuvian Observatory and Palermo Section), the Cnr-Irea and the Universities of Florence, Palermo, Pisa And Turin.
Activation of the pre-alarm operational phase
«With the transition to the Pre-alarm operational phase, the local level of civil protection is activated at the Advanced Operations Center – Coa, which will be supported by experts from the National Department of Civil Protection, ensuring coordination with the operational structures involved”, underlines the Civil Protection explaining that the mayor of the Municipality of Liparic Islandswho took part in the meeting, “has already arranged initial precautionary measures aimed at protecting the people present on the island. The mayor will be constantly informed about the evolution of the situation in order to be able to guarantee constant and correct information to the population”.
Recommendations to the population
Regardless of the local volcanic phenomena, which can have frequent variations, a situation of enhanced imbalance of the volcano. «The population present on the island is therefore invited to keep themselves informed and to scrupulously follow the indications provided by the local authorities of civil protection”, is the notice from the Civil Protection.