[10] The Sciara del Fuoco ("stream of fire") is a large horseshoe-shaped depression created in the last 13,000 years by several collapses on the northwestern side of the cone.

Approximately 2 kilometres (1+1⁄4 miles) northeast lies Strombolicchio, the volcanic plug remnant of the original volcano.

Eruptions from the summit craters typically result in a few short, mild, but energetic bursts, ranging up to a few hundred meters in height, containing ash, incandescent lava fragments, and stone blocks.

[15] On 28 August 2019, at 10:16 local time, an explosive eruption sent a pyroclastic flow down the volcano's northern flank and into the sea, where it continued for several hundred meters before collapsing.

In the early 20th century, a few thousand people inhabited the island,[20] but after several waves of emigration, the population has numbered a few hundred since the mid-1950s.