The tsunami detection system off Stromboli, developed and managed by UniFI, is currently stopped due to a technical problem. The fault was immediately communicated to the Department of Civil Protection by the University of Florence (UniFI), Department of Earth Sciences – Experimental Physics Laboratory which – according to the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology – is planning in the next few days an emergency intervention to verify the possibility of restoring the system.
In 2022 the Department of Civil Protection and the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) signed an agreement aimed at guaranteeing operational continuity, albeit in an experimental form, networks and systems for volcanic monitoring and early detection of paroxysmal events and tsunamis on the island of Stromboli. These activities are fundamental for effectively alerting the population in the event of events of this type. To guarantee its operation, INGV has signed an agreement with the Universities of Florence, Palermo, Pisa and Turin which participate in the monitoring and detection activities.
The system developed in Stromboli by the scientific community for the detection and alarm of paroxysmal explosions is unique in the world and the new organizational structure of the scientific community operating in the Aeolian Islands aims at further developing the system, together with that for tsunamis, with the ultimate objective of promoting effective rapid warning measures and mitigation of volcanic and tsunami risk.
The new structure is useful for strengthening the networks and systems developed by the Experimental Geophysics Laboratory of the University of Florence, in concert with the other universities. Fundamental networks and systems for the activation of experimental alarm devices (“early-warning”) which, following a paroxysmal explosion or tsunami on Stromboli, allow the sirens to be activated.
The Department has installed at the Stromboli Civil Protection Advanced Operations Center (COA). a computer system which, on the one hand, acquires monitoring data from the University of Florence and, on the other, in the event of a paroxysmal explosion or tsunami in the stretch of sea in front of the Sciara del Fuoco, sends an impulse to automatically activate the siren system managed by the Municipality of Lipari.
