Volcanoes that have been silent for decades are coming to life in the eastern Caribbean, prompting officials to issue warnings in Martinique and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines as scientists rush to study activities they say are not being observed. years ago.
The most recent warning was issued Tuesday for La Soufriere volcano in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, a row of islands home to more than 100,000 people. Officials reported tremors, strong gas emissions, the formation of a new volcanic dome and changes to the crater.
The Caribbean Disaster and Emergency Management Agency said on Tuesday that scientists have observed “an exuberant eruption in the crater with visible gas and steam.”
The government warned that those living near the volcano should prepare to evacuate if necessary, thus raising an orange alert. This means that the eruption can occur less than 24 hours in advance.
La Soufriere is located on the northern tip of the main island of San Vicente and the last time it erupted was in 1979 and 192, when it killed 1,600 people.
This is said to have happened just after the Mount Pelee volcano in Martinique erupted and killed more than 30,000 people.
Mount Pelee is now active again. In early December, officials from the French Caribbean issued a yellow warning due to seismic activity under the mountain. It was the first warning since the volcano’s last eruption in 1932, Fabrice Fontaine of the Martinique Volcanic and Seismological Observatory told The Associated Press.
While the eastern Caribbean is a long chain of active and extinct volcanoes, volcanologist Erik Klemetti of Denison University in Ohio said the activity at Mount Pelee and La Soufriere is unrelated.
While the eastern Caribbean is a long chain of active and extinct volcanoes, volcanologist Erik Klemetti of Denison University in Ohio said the activity at Mount Pelee and La Soufriere has nothing to do with each other.
“It’s not like a volcano is starting to erupt that others will,” he said. “It falls into the category of coincidence.”
He said the activity is evidence that magma is lurking underground and trickling to the surface, though he added that scientists still don’t have a good understanding of what determines how quickly it happens.
“The answers are not entirely satisfactory,” he said. “It’s the science that’s still being researched.”
Klemetti said the most active volcano in recent years in the eastern Caribbean is the Soufriere Hills in Montserrat, which has erupted continuously since 1995, destroyed the capital, Plymouth, and killed at least 19 people in 1997.
Seventeen of the 19 living volcanoes in the Eastern Caribbean are located on 11 islands, and the remaining two are underwater near the island of Grenada, including one called Kick ’em Jenny that has been active in recent years.