In 1888 Vulcano, which had been dormant became active. Giuseppe Mercalli had an observatory constructed on the adjacent island of Lipari where he and his assistants could monitor the activity of the Fossa cone. As a result of his observations which he described as " ...Explosions sounding like a canon being fired at irregular intervals..." As a result vulcanian eruptions are based on this description. A typical vulcanian eruption can hurl blocks of solid material several hundreds of metres from the vent. Mercalli reported blocks from the 1888-1890 eruption fell in the sea between Vulcano and Lipari, several were photographed by him or his assistants that had fallen on the island of Vulcano. The eruption ended in 1890.
He also observed the near continuous eruptive activity at Stromboli and his report of that style of eruption is used to describe all similar eruptions. He described them as "...Mild explosions at regular intervals..."The Geologist (talk) 17:30, 25 May 2014 (UTC)Reply
