The volcano was known to be active but on Wednesday afternoon, there was a particularly powerful eruption that enveloped the island in ash and smoke.
Italian media reported that a hiker had been killed and another person injured.
The hiker, believed to be a tourist, was killed by falling stones during a walk, authorities said.
“It was like being in hell because of the rain of fire coming from the sky,” Italian news agencies quoted local priest Giovanni Longo as saying.
The eruption also caused fires around the village of Ginostra.
Fire crews were called in from nearby locations and a Canadair firefighting plane was in action.
Thirty people were evacuated from Ginostra by hydrofoil, and another ship picked up other tourists.
The mayor of the nearby island of Salina, Domenico Arabia, said that beaches on the island had been closed as a precaution.
Stromboli, which shares its name with the island, has been erupting almost continuously since 1932.
Marco Neri, a volcanologist from Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), said eruptions of this magnitude were very rare on Stromboli: the last one was in 2007.
“Today’s was a very violent explosion,” he said.
“Ash and lapilli [rock fragments] were shot up to two kilometres high before landing on the ground and hitting the sides of the mountain.
“This has obviously caused numerous fires.
“Fortunately, the eruptions have settled right down now.”
