Volcanoes that have been quiet for decades are coming to life in the eastern Caribbean, leading officials to issue alerts in Martinique and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines as scientists rush to study the activity, which according to they say, it has not been observed in years.
The latest warning was issued Tuesday night for La Soufriere volcano in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, a chain of islands that houses more than 100,000 people. Authorities reported tremors, strong gas emissions, the formation of a new volcanic dome and changes in its crater lake.
The Caribbean Agency for Disaster Emergency Management said scientists on Tuesday observed an “effusive eruption inside the crater, with gas and steam visible.”
The government warned those living near the volcano to prepare to evacuate if necessary, declaring an orange warning meaning eruptions could occur less than 24 hours in advance.
The Soufriere, located near the northern end of the main island of St. Vincent, last erupted in 1979, and a previous eruption in 1902 killed some 1,600 people. This happened shortly before Mt Baralli in Martinique exploded and destroyed the city of Saint-Pierre, killing more than 30,000 people.
Mt. Baralli also became active again in early December and officials in French Caribbean territory issued a yellow warning due to seismic activity below the mountain. It was the first such alert issued since the volcano last erupted in 1932, Fabrice Fontaine of the Martinique Volcanological and Seismological Observatory told AP.
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 Mt. Baralli and La Soufriere are unrelated.
“It’s not like one volcano is starting to erupt and others will,” he said. “It falls into the match category”.
He argued that the activity shows magma hiding underground and seeping to the surface, although he added that scientists do not yet have a good understanding of what controls how quickly this happens.
“The answers are not entirely satisfactory,” he said. “It’s the science that’s still being investigated.”
Klemetti said the most active volcano in recent years in the eastern Caribbean has been Soufrière Hills in Montserrat, which has been erupting continuously since 1995, destroying the capital Plymouth and killing at least 19 people on 1997.
Seventeen of the 19 living volcanoes in the eastern Caribbean are on 11 islands, and the remaining two are underwater near the island of Granada, including a so-called Kick ‘Em Jenny that has been active in recent years.