The Caribbean Island of St Vincent has experienced a series of volcanic eruptions that have left a blanket of ash and thousands displaced with more eruptions predicted by experts.
The La Soufrière volcano first erupted in the second week of April.
The volcano that had been dormant since 1979 began to show signs of volcanic activity in December 2020.
Since then, the tiny island has been blanketed with ash and has left 15,000 people displaced.
The first sign that an eruption was imminent was on April 9 when a lava dome became visible on La Soufrière.
Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves proceeded to urge more than 16,000 residents in the ‘red zones’ to evacuate. Those red zones constitute more than 10% of the country’s population and evacuees were taken to cruise ships and safer parts of the island.
The initial eruption was to said have sent clouds of hot ash around 20,000 feet into the air, causing water and electricity outages.
Massive power outage following another explosive event at La Soufriere Volcano. Lightning, thunder and rumblings. Majority of the country out of power and covered in ash #lasoufriereeruption2021 #explosion # rumblings #poweroutage #
— NEMO SVG (@NEMOSVG) April 11, 2021
One of the residents, Sen Punnett, spoke with AFP news agency, stating how he saw “a huge ball of smoke” and that he “can feel and hear rumbling here in the green safe zone.”
People were urged to stay indoors and told to avoid breathing in the ash. Chief medical officer, Kenneth George, commented: “This is to protect yourselves and your family”.
More than 3,000 people have been staying at government-run shelters around the island.
St Lucia, Antigua, and Grenada have all offered to open their borders to evacuees.
An even larger eruption occurred early on Monday 12 April.
Richard Robertson, Professor of Geology at the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre, confirmed that the volcano sent deadly clouds of hot gas, ash, and stones down the mountainsides.
NEMO St Vincent and the Grenadines said on Facebook that the Monday blast took place at around 4:15 a.m. and was visible on a radar from the nearby island of Martinique.
“It’s destroying everything in its path,” Erouscilla Joseph, director of the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre, told The Associated Press.
Joseph added: “Anybody who would not have heeded the evacuation, they need to get out immediately.”
There have currently been no reports of injuries or deaths.
Although there was a government call for evacuation, there is no way to tell as of yet how many people remained in the red-zoned area.
The last eruption caused more than $100m of damage on the island and an eruption in 1902 killed more than 1,000 people, with more eruptions expected.
Lauren Bramwell
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Featured image courtesy of Mitsuo Komoriya on Unsplash. Image license can be found here. No changes were made to this image.
Lauren Bramwell
Journalist. University of East Anglia English Literature Graduate. Previously Concrete's Opinion Editor.