To: John H K
Dec 31, 2002
ROME, Italy (AP) -- Gas burst from the tiny volcanic island of Stromboli in southern Italy on Monday, prompting a landslide and a wave of water that injured at least six people, officials said.
Damage was not thought to be severe. Civil Defence and firefighting officials were heading to the island to assess what happened, and could offer few details on the nature of the volcanic activity.
At least five people suffered light injuries, while one other person suffered a more serious back injury, said emergency-room chief Dr. Gustavo Rizzo at a hospital in Messina, Sicily, where some of the injured were being sent.
Stromboli, which is 60 kilometres (40 miles) north of Sicily, is noted for frequent minor eruptions, and attracts tourists keen to see the flow of lava inching down the side of the volcano. It is part of the volcanic Aeolian archipelago, and has a population of only a few hundred people.
Firefighters heading to the volcano said a heavy burst of gas was emitted from the crater of the volcano. This caused a landslide, while a wave of water gushed into the tiny settlement of Ginostra.
Local dockworker Vincenzo Merlino, 55, was at home relaxing at the time.
"All of a sudden, as I was calmly smoking my pipe, I heard a small noise and went down to the end of the garden," he said by phone from Stromboli. "I saw the tide pull back, then return with five- or six-metre waves."
He did not see any major damage, although a few boats were washed away.
Civil Defence officials flew over the island in helicopters to try to assess the cause and extent of the damage.
Stromboli is not the only active volcano in southern Italy, with Mt. Etna in Sicily coming to life in October, causing lava to pour down the mountain for several weeks.
2 posted on
12/31/2002 5:04:54 PM PST by
July 4th
To: July 4th
4 posted on
12/31/2002 5:16:37 PM PST by
John H K
To: July 4th
Not much of a tsunami.
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