Volcanoes that have remained quiet for decades pulsing with life in the eastern Caribbean Sea, prompting officials to issue alerts in Martinique and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines As scientists rush to study the activity, they say it has not been observed for years.
The latest warning was issued late on Tuesday for La Soufriere volcano in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, an island chain of more than 100,000 people. Officials have reported earthquakes, strong gas emissions, formation of a new volcanic dome, and changes in the crater lake.
The Caribbean And the Disaster Emergency Management Agency said scientists noticed a “rapid eruption inside the crater, with gas and vapor appearing” on Tuesday.
The government has warned those who live near the volcano to prepare for evacuation if necessary, announcing an orange alert that means eruptions can occur in as little as 24 hours.
La Soufriere, located near the northern tip of the main island of Saint Vincent, It last erupted in 1979An earlier eruption in 1902 killed around 1,600 people. This happened shortly before the eruption of Mount Pele in Martinique and the destruction of the town of Saint-Pierre, More than 30,000 people were killed.
Mt Pelee is active again now. In early December, officials in the French Caribbean issued a yellow alert due to seismic activity under the mountain. Fabrice Fontaine, of the Martinique Volcanic and Earthquake Observatory, told The Associated Press that this was the first warning of its kind since the volcano last erupted in 1932.
While the eastern Caribbean is a long line of active and extinct volcanoes, volcanologist Eric Clemetti, of Denison University in Ohio, said the activity at Mount Bailey and La Soufriere is irrelevant.
He said, “It’s not as if one volcano starts to erupt as others do.” “It falls into the category of chance.”
He said this activity is evidence that magma lurks underground and seeps toward the surface, although he added that scientists still lack a good understanding of what controls how quickly this happens.
“The answers are not completely satisfactory,” he said. “It is a science that is still being researched.”
Clemiti said that the most active volcano in recent years in the Eastern Caribbean is the Soufriere Hills in Montserrat, which has erupted continuously since 1995, destroying the capital of Plymouth and Killed at least 19 people in 1997.
There are 17 live volcanoes out of 19 live volcanoes in the Eastern Caribbean on 11 islands, while the remaining two are underwater near Grenada, including one called Kick ‘Em Jenny which has been active in recent years.
