INGV - Workshop

Tsunami Warning @Stromboli: Observations, Modelling, Hazard, Forecasting

Stromboli Island, Italy | October 05-07, 2024

Phenomena like volcano sector collapse and pyroclastic density currents characterize active volcanoes. In volcanic islands, such phenomena can also generate tsunami waves, thus constituting a severe hazard for near- and far-field coastal communities, as recently testified by the 2018 Anak Krakatau and 2022 Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai events. Also Stromboli volcano, in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea (Italy), has shown in the recent past the potential to generate significant tsunamis, in particular due to mass failures along the “Sciara del Fuoco” (the north-western flank of the volcano). Tsunamis ensuing from volcanic processes along the Sciara del Fuoco can reach the Stromboli inhabited coasts in a time as short as 3-4 minutes after their generation, while the Aeolian Islands, the Tyrrhenian coast of Calabria, and the northern part of Sicily could be hit in 20-30 minutes. Depending on the size of the source, numerical modelling has also shown that tsunami waves can travel across the Tyrrhenian Sea and reach, for example, the coast of Naples in less than 90 minutes.

The present workshop is organized in the framework of the agreement between the Department of Italian Civil Protection (DPC) and the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) to develop an integrated monitoring and warning system for the Stromboli volcano;  this initiative will benefit from the collaboration between INGV and some Italian Universities already involved in those activities, and it fits nicely into the celebrations for the 25th INGV anniversary. 

The focus of the workshop will be on the tsunami warning in Stromboli. The local experts involved (INGV and Italian Universities) will present the state of the art regarding four main topics: observations, modelling, hazards, and forecasting. Many experts have been invited from different part of the world to present their experience and monitoring approaches regarding tsunamis generated by volcanic sources, and review what we have in place, discuss improvements based on the current knowledge, and suggest new research directions.

This workshop is a first attempt to foster collaboration among Institutions, Warning centres, and researchers to better understand the volcanic/tsunamigenic phenomena regarding, in particular, Stromboli and to, more in general, lay the foundations for more effective and standard tsunami alerting procedures for non-seismic tsunami events. Achieving these objectives can help Civil protection, policy, and decision-makers in the tsunami mitigation risk process and contribute to the tsunami warning systems coordinated by the IOC/UNESCO worldwide.   

Scientific Committee

Alessandro Amato (INGV-ONT)

Mattia de’ Michieli Vitturi (INGV-Pisa)

Stefano Lorito (INGV-ONT)

Fabrizio Romano (INGV-ONT)

Organising committee

Giovanni Bianco (INGV-ONT)

Diego Capriotti (INGV-ONT)

Lorenzo Cugliari (INGV-ONT)

Silvia Filosa (INGV-ONT)

Sara Fusi (INGV-ONT)

Alessandro Gattuso (INGV-Palermo, Sede operativa di Milazzo)

Additional Information on CAT Website