The eastern Caribbean is on high alert as La Soufrière volcano on the island of St. Vincent continues to erupt, leaving many homeless and those on the surrounding islands worried about ash and air quality.
What is being described as an enormous amount of ash and hot gas is spewing from the volcano. Monday morning was the biggest eruption yet since volcanic activity began late last week, with experts calling it a “huge explosion.”
The first eruption was Friday, sending a huge plume of ash 6 miles into the sky. Evacuations on the island had just started the day before when the first eruption happened.
The volcano hadn’t erupted since 1979, but in late December 2020, La Soufrière started rumbling again. Scientists observed the dome and decided it was an early indication of an impending eruption.
The island has been on alert ever since.
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Now, pyroclastic flows -- which are fast-moving volcanic ash, lava droplets and hot gas -- have destroyed homes and farms and threatened the island’s food and water supplies.
Ash from the ongoing explosions has fallen on Barbados and other nearby islands.
Scientists believe this is the first of many explosions to come.
Volcanic eruptions can last weeks or even months, and La Soufrière has a history of deadly eruptions. Records show that in 1902, the volcano erupted for nearly eight months.
Richard Robertson, with the University of the West Indies’ Seismic Research Center, said the latest explosion is equivalent to the one that occurred in 1902 and killed some 1,600.
Evacuations on the island are still ongoing and it is unknown at this time how many stayed behind. The island is watching for its next change of rain -- which is a big concern because, when water mixes with the ash, it forms a concrete of sorts.
The eastern Caribbean has 19 live volcanoes, 17 of those located on 11 islands. The remaining two are located underwater near Grenada, including one called Kick ‘Em Jenny that has been active in recent years. The most active volcano of all is Soufrière Hills in Montserrat, which has erupted continuously since 1995, destroying the capital of Plymouth and killing at least 19 people in 1997.