ROME, Oct 10 (AFP) - Several explosions inside of Italy's Stromboli volcano sent enormous plumes of smoke into the sky and major streams of lava into the Tyrrhenian Sea over the weekend.

Lava oozed from the northern crater of the volcano after a partial collapse of the crater terrace, Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology said. Authorities issued a middle-level warning to about 400 residents who live on the island – which is part of the Aeolian archipelago off the northeast coast of Sicily – after the eruption was confirmed on Sunday morning, the agency said.

The Stromboli volcano, active almost continuously for at least 2,000 years, has erupted several times this year alone, according to records from the Smithsonian Institution.