Georgetown: Geologist Richard Robertson on Friday said the volcano in St Vincent and the Grenadines had gone into overnight tremors, and at 8.37, signals showed that an explosion was imminent.
”The punching of the dome took place around 8.41, with a vertical plume, ash clouds are reported up to 29,000 feet, with ash flowing into the east as far as Belmont”.
Robertson said the volcano is now back into a quiet period, with more explosions expected soon, the first one he said was not the biggest.
Most of the ash is expected to remain in the northern part of the island; however, Robertson said it could arrive at any location due to wind direction.
” If there is a much bigger explosion, the ash can spread further to the south, this could continue for days or weeks, and monitoring will continue “, Robertson said.
Robertson said there is no need to wait it out in the RED ZONE.
St Vincent’s Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, speaking at a press conference this morning in Kingstown, said that a pilot departing the Grenadine island of Canouan reported an ash plume heading eastwards at 25,000 feet.
The UWI-Seismic Research Centre scientific team based at the Belmont Observatory in St. Vincent recorded six separate bands of volcanic tremor throughout the day Thursday. This new type of seismic event has not yet been observed since the beginning of the eruption in December 2020. This type of seismic signal is usually associated with movement of magma and fluids close to the surface. Ash venting was also observed during the most recent tremor episode.
The effusive eruption is continuing, and an explosive phase of the eruption may begin with very little warning.
The UWI-SRC Geologist and Scientific Team Lead, Prof. Richard Robertson indicated that: “We cannot give any clear warning that nothing can happen within the next 24-48 hours and we would not be surprised if there are explosions at the volcano during that period.”
ABOUT THE VOLCANO
The La Soufriѐre is the only ‘live’ (potentially active) volcano on the island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and stands 1,178m (3,864ft) above sea level.
There have been 5 explosive eruptions at La Soufriѐre during the historical period: 1718, 1812, 1814, 1902/03 and 1979, according to the UWI Seismic Unit. Several effusive eruptions have also occurred at the volcano.
On April 13,1979, an effusive phase followed the initial explosive phase of the eruption. In 1971/72 an effusive eruption created a lava dome that existed until the 1979 eruption.
The most recent dome building (effusive) eruption began on December 27th,2020. Visual observations on December 29th, 2020 confirmed that high temperatures detected by satellites used to track fires were in fact caused by magma reaching the surface.
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