Fears of another volcanic eruption in St. Vincent emerge

Authorities in the Eastern Caribbean nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines have warned locals to stay away from the La Soufriere Volcanic area as the temperature is on the rise again.

NEMO, the emergency management authority issued the warning this week as it urged Vincentians to avoid visiting the historic volcano, which last erupted in early 2021, displacing more than 20,000 people, destroying homes and rendering the area useless. Damage was estimated at $86 million. The previous eruption had occurred 40 years ago, but the worst dates back to the colonial era in 1902 when hundreds of people were killed, caught off guard because of the absence of early detection and warning equipment.

The agency said that an increase in temperature has been noted close to the summit at around 4,000 feet. This change in behavior was detected at the weekend and officials say they are taking no chances this time as it could be acting up again.

“Potential scenarios associated with the detection of the thermal anomaly include a sulphur fire in the crater, a small phreatic (steam) eruption that may have exposed hot underlying rocks, or the start of new extrusion of lava in the crater,” NEMO said. “According to information received from the Seismic Research Centre, at 2:38 p.m. on Monday a low thermal anomaly (temperatures above existing background/base levels) was detected at the summit of the La Soufriere Volcano by the NASA FIRMS hot spot detection system on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024,” NEMO said.

“This low thermal anomaly as detected by NASA FIRMS is currently ongoing” and that analysis of multigas data collected on Oct. 4 by NEMO Soufriere monitoring team, and further reconnaissance via sea along the west coast on Monday are still underway.

The island has since struggled to recover from the eruption, which had blanketed a large part of the northern districts. Ash plumes had risen up to seven miles in the air, rendering aviation as dangerous for days.

NEMO says it is banning any unauthorized visits to the summit until further notice. “Further updates will be given following the analysis of the multigas data and the conclusions from the visual observations,” NEMO said. It noted that the alert level remains at green, meaning that while it is quiet, no one should take any unnecessary chances and frequent the area.Volcanic area as the temperature is on the rise again.

NEMO, the emergency management authority issued the warning this week as it urged Vincentians to avoid visiting the historic volcano which last erupted in early 2021, displacing more than 20,000 people, destroying homes and rendering the area useless. Damage was estimated at $86 million. The previous eruption had occurred 40 years ago, but the worst dates back to the colonial era in 1902 when hundreds of people were killed, caught off guard because of the absence of early detection and warning equipment at that time.

The agency said that an increase in temperature has been noted close to the summit at around 4,000 feet. This change in behavior was detected at the weekend and officials say they are taking no chances this time as it could be acting up again.

“Potential scenarios associated with the detection of the thermal anomaly include a sulphur fire in the crater, a small phreatic (steam) eruption that may have exposed hot underlying rocks, or the start of new extrusion of lava in the crater,” NEMO said. “According to information received from the Seismic Research Centre, at 2:38 p.m. on Monday a low thermal anomaly (temperatures above existing background/base levels) was detected at the summit of the La Soufriere volcano by the NASA FIRMS hot spot detection system on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024,” NEMO said.

“This low thermal anomaly as detected by NASA FIRMS is currently ongoing” and that analysis of multigas data collected on Oct. 4 by NEMO Soufriere monitoring team, and further reconnaissance via sea along the west coast on Monday are still underway.

The island has since struggled to recover from the eruption which had blanketed a large part of the northern districts. Ash plumes had risen up to seven miles in the air, rendering aviation as dangerous for days.

NEMO says it is banning any unauthorized visits to the summit until further notice. “Further updates will be given following the analysis of the multigas data and the conclusions from the visual observations,” NEMO said. It noted that the alert level remains at green, meaning that while it is quiet, no one should take any unnecessary chances and frequent the area.