A volcanic eruption shook the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent for the first time in more than 40 years on Friday, prompting the evacuation of thousands of people, according to reports.
The eruption of La Soufrière volcano, which was confirmed by the University of the West Indies seismological research center, sent ash plumes 20,000 feet to the sky, according to the local emergency management agency.
Erouscilla Joseph, director of the university’s Seismic Center, said the large ashes spread to communities around the volcano and east into the Atlantic Ocean.
The volcano last erupted in 1979 and a previous eruption in 1902 killed some 1,600 people.
No casualties were reported immediately on Friday.
“More explosions could occur,” Joseph said, adding that it was impossible to predict whether possible future explosions would be larger or smaller than the first.
The eruption followed mandatory evacuation orders for people living near the volcano.
Officials planned to place them aboard cruises, send them to nearby islands or take them to shelters anywhere else in Sant Vicenç that were outside the danger zone.
Some 16,000 people living in the red zone will have to be evacuated in efforts that could be hampered by the coronavirus pandemic, Joseph said.
Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves told reporters that people should be vaccinated if they go aboard a cruise ship or are granted temporary shelter on another island.
He said two Royal Caribbean and two Carnival ships were expected to arrive on Friday.
The islands that have said they would accept the evacuees are Saint Lucia, Granada, Barbados and Antigua.
“Not everything will go perfectly, but if we all cooperate … we will get it stronger than ever,” said Gonsalves, who advised people who decided to seek refuge in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, a chain of islands more to be vaccinated than more than 100,000 people.
Emergency workers have gone to red zone communities and provided transportation to safer places, Joseph said.
“They know who doesn’t have transportation, because all of that has already been checked before,” he said, adding that those embarking on cruises would stay there for an unspecified period of time.
With an impending eruption late Thursday, the shelters filled up as a string of car lights headed for safer terrain.
John Renton, a school principal who ran a shelter, said they had many masks and other personal protective equipment, but needed more cribs.
As he spoke, he was interrupted by a phone call from a government official asking him about the preparations.
“We have exceeded capacity,” he replied, adding that the shelter had a capacity for 75 people and was already full.
Scientists alerted the government to a possible eruption after finding seismic activity at 3 a.m. Thursday indicating that “magma was moving near the surface,” Joseph said.
“Things are climbing pretty fast,” he said of the volcanic activity.
There are other active volcanoes in the eastern Caribbean.
Seventeen of the region’s 19 living volcanoes are found on 11 islands, with the remaining two underwater near the island of Grenada, including one called Kick ‘Em Jenny that has been active in recent years.
The most active volcano in the region has been the Soufriere hills in Montserrat, which has erupted continuously since 1995 and killed at least 19 people in 1997.
With publishing cables