No one was injured in the latest eruption, which took the form of an explosion at the top of the volcano's crater.

However several houses in the small port of Ginostra were hit by the falling rocks and one was partially destroyed, civil protection officials said.

Several roads near the port were also damaged, and smoke could again be seen pouring from the crater.

A helicopter was sent to check if any other remote settlements on the island had been affected by the eruption, but there were no immediate reports of further damage.

Stromboli, which is located on a small island of the same name off the northern coast of Sicily, last erupted on December 30.

That incident sent a huge mass of rock plunging into the sea, setting off a tidal wave that caused major damage to coastal settlements.

The authorities then decided to evacuate the island's 400 inhabitants and also to install more sophisticated seismological monitoring equipment on Stromboli.

People were allowed to return to their homes in early February.

SPACE.WIRE