Montserrat Volcano Eruption Update

February 15, 2010               

Flights disrupted across the Caribbean by eruption by the Montserrat Volcano

Flights have been disrupted across the Caribbean after a volcanic eruption on the British overseas territory of Montserrat.

The Soufriere Hills volcano, (Montserrat Volcano) which first erupted in 1995, returned to life on Thursday, spewing ash up to 6 miles (10km) into the sky, the Montserrat Volcano Observatory said.

On the French archipelago of Guadeloupe, about 50 miles south of Montserrat, the airport remained closed yesterday and fire engines were used to try to clear a thick layer of ash from runways. About 300 travellers were reported to be stranded in Guadeloupe.

“The continued ash hanging in the atmosphere presents a risk to planes and to the security of passengers,” Guadeloupe police said in a statement. Montserrat Volcano is dangerous.

The airline said that the “continued presence of airborne ash clouds over Dominica and Guadeloupe” had forced it to suspend all remaining flights to both destinations on the island of Montserrat.

Flights to other islands, including Anguilla, St Kitts and Nevis and St Martin were also disrupted. Montserrat Volcano caused chios in the Caribbean.

Until the eruption in 1995 Soufriere Hills had been dormant through recorded history. The island’s capital, Plymouth, was almost fully buried by the eruption and two thirds of Montserrat’s population had to flee. Montserrat Volcano is distructive. The city is now an exclusion zone, described as a modern day Pompeii, and can be visited only with organised tours.

Montserrat Volcano

The Soufrière Hills volcano (French "Sulphur" Hills) is an active complex strato volcano with many lava domes forming its summit on the Caribbean island of Montserrat. After a long period of dormancy, the Montserrat Volcano became active in 1995, and has continued to erupt ever since. The Montserrat Volcano eruptions have rendered more than half of Montserrat uninhabitable, destroying the capital city, Plymouth, and causing widespread evacuations: about two thirds of the population left the island of Montserrat.
 
Seismic activity had occurred in 1897–1898, 1933–1937, and again in 1966–1967, but the eruption that began on July 18, 1995, was the first since the 17th century. When pyroclastic flows and mudflows began occurring regularly, Plymouth was evacuated, and a few weeks later a pyroclastic flow covered the city in several metres of debris. A large eruption of the Montserrat Volcano on June 25, 1997, resulted in the deaths of nineteen people. 

Montserrat's airport was directly in the path of the main pyroclastic flow and was completely destroyed. Montserrat's tourist industry was also destroyed. However, it is now regenerating. The governments of the United Kingdom and Montserrat led the aid effort, including a £41 million package provided to the people of Montserrat; however, riots followed as the people protested that the British Government was not doing enough to aid relief.

The Montserrat volcano is andesitic in nature and the current pattern of activity includes periods of dome growth, punctuated by brief episodes of dome collapse which result in pyroclastic flows, ash venting, and explosive eruption. On December 24, 2006, streaks of red from the pyroclastic flows became visible. On January 8, 2007, an evacuation order was issued for areas in the Lower Belham Valley, affecting an additional 100 people.

The most devastating eruption of the Montserrat Volcano was at Soufriere Hills Volcano starting at 11:27 pm local time on Monday, 28 July 2008, without any precursory activity. Pyroclastic flow lobes reached Plymouth. These involved juvenile material originating in the collapse of the eruption column.

Further, a small part of the eastern side of theMontserrast Volcano lava dome collapsed, generating a pyroclastic flow in Tar River Valley. Several large explosions were registered, with the largest at approximately 11:38 pm. The height of the ash column was estimated at 12 kilometres (40,000 feet) above sea level at the Montserrat Volcano.  

The Montserrat Volcano has become one of the most closely monitored volcanoes in the world since its eruption began, with the Montserrat Volcano Observatory  taking detailed measurements and reporting on its activity to the government and population of Montserrat. The observatory is operated by the British Geological Survey under contract to the government of Montserrat.

Results: in the October 9, 2008, issue of the journal Science suggest that two interconnected magma chambers lie beneath the surface of the volcano on Montserrat – one six kilometers below the surface and the other at 12 kilometers below the surface. They also show a link between surface behavior and the size of the deeper magma chamber.

On 5 February 2010, a vulcanian explosion simultaneously propelled pyroclastic flows down several sides of the mountain, and on 11 February 2010, a partial collapse of the lava dome sent large ash clouds over sections of several nearby islands including Guadeloupe and Antigua. Inhabited areas of Montserrat itself received very little ash accumulation through either event. Soufrière Hills is the namesake of the Jimmy Buffett song "Volcano". Montserrat Volcano is a dangerous volcano.