August 20, 1944 Eruption of Stromboli

Name: August 20, 1944 Eruption of Stromboli
Start: 1944-08-20
Location: Stromboli, Italy

August 20, 1944 · VEI 2 · 1 house destroyed

Stromboli in Italy erupted on August 20, 1944 with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 2. It caused a tsunami.

Where it erupted

Stromboli, Italy, with its other significant eruptions.

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The eruption

Date: August 20, 1944
Volcano: Stromboli, stratovolcano
Country: Italy
Volcanic Explosivity Index: 2, moderate (eruption column 1 to 5 km)
Killed by: Waves or tsunami
Tsunami: Yes: the tsunami it caused
Location: 38.789° N, 15.213° E

The toll

Damage: Limited (under about $1 million) with the tsunamis, mudflows and other effects it caused
Houses destroyed: 1 with the tsunamis, mudflows and other effects it caused

Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.

What the record says

NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.

1944, August 20, 06:30 UTC. Aeolian Islands. Large explosion at Stromboli. Hot avalanche at the Forgia Vecchia. At Punta Lena the sea penetrates 300 m destroying one house. A lot of fish found on the beach (Cavallaro, ref #10535; Barberi, ref #10534). (reference #4139)

After a period of intense activity, on August 20 at 07:30, a terrible explosion occurred with lava bombs and ash ejected up to great heights. A stream of lava entered the sea at Sciara del Fuoco, and concomitantly water waves were observed that nearly caused the shipwreck of a boat. A hot avalanche at the Forgia Vecchia, on the opposite side of the island, reached the coast where big waves were noted [...] No news, either about the eruption or about the tsunami, was found in contemporary newspapers, which is not strange, since in that world-war period, their attention was attracted by much more dramatic events. (reference #3078)

Other significant eruptions of Stromboli

Every eruption in 1944 The 1900s Stromboli Earthquakes near Stromboli This day in weather history

Sources

Volcanoes and significant eruptions from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. Volcano numbers are the Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program’s. NCEI event 1476.