The La Soufrière volcano, on the Caribbean island of Saint-Vincent, in the Lesser Antilles, erupted on Friday, April 9 in the morning, causing smoke columns up to 8 km high. A second, smaller explosion followed in the afternoon, emergency management services reported, immediately triggering the alert in this island of 100,000 inhabitants. The inhabitants of the island received an evacuation order as early as Thursday, April 8, at 5 p.m. Some 16,000 people live in the areas red
the most exposed. In the middle of the day, Friday, “Most of the people living in the red zones of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines have been evacuated”, according to the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA).
More than 2,300 people have taken refuge in 62 emergency shelters, and are currently screened and vaccinated against Covid-19 by the Ministry of Health, said the CDEMA.
But the evacuations had to be interrupted for a while due to the lack of visibility.
This Saturday the volcano remains under close surveillance. The emergency management organization fears that the rain will harden the ash that falls on the island, posing a danger to human life.
Ash fallout was observed as far as the south of the island and Argyle International Airport, closed within an hour of the eruption.
Once an explosive eruption has taken place, more are likely to occur
, said earlier in the morning the seismic research center of the University of the West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago, another West Indian archipelago, warning that “the explosive eruption would probably last several days or even weeks”.
BREAKING: La Soufrière #volcano on island of St. Vincent erupts, shooting ash miles into the sky. https://t.co/ErGIdRt0D7 pic.twitter.com/D6rR7vnwgN
— The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) April 9, 2021
“We feel and hear the roar and we see a huge column of smoke”
La Soufrière – not to be confused with the Grande Soufrière in Guadeloupe – has not experienced an eruption since 1979. The largest, and most devastating, eruption occurred in 1902 and had made more than 1,000 victims.
Volcanic eruption at La Soufrière right now. This volcano has not erupted since 1979 ??
La Soufrière or Soufrière Saint Vincent is an active volcano on the island of Saint Vincent in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines ????
Via @TTWeatherCenterpic.twitter.com/fvOwfO1Ni4
— Scott Duncan (@ScottDuncanWX) April 9, 2021
“The island is on red alert, proclaimed Thursday evening the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, after an increase in volcanic activity at the level of the crater of the highest peak of the island , located in the North.
Last night there was a mad panic but today it seems calmer. I can feel and hear the rumble here in the green area. We can see a huge column of smoke
, Zen Punnett, an island resident, told AFP.
Evacuees could be taken to shelters on other islands in the archipelago, or in other Caribbean territories and countries that have offered assistance such as Barbados or Saint Lucia, according to local media.
Antigua and Barbuda stands ready to receive evacuees
, also told AFP Philmore Mullin, director of the disaster management agency of the neighboring country of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Cruise ships hijacked to pick up the island’s displaced people
We are waiting for the authorities in Saint-Vincent to tell us when they arrive, but we know for sure that they will not be less than 250
, he clarified. Between 12,000 and 15,000 people have already evacuated the red zone
, also asserted Mr. Mullin.
At least four cruise ships from Royal Caribbean and Carnival companies have been diverted to the area to pick up the displaced.
In Martinique, an island near Saint-Vincent in the West Indies, seismicity of volcanic origin has increased over the past week
for Mount Pelée, announced on March 26 the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Martinique.
On this island of French West Indies, everyone remembers the damage caused by Mount Pelée at the start of the 20th century: its eruption in 1902 – two weeks after that of Soufrière in Saint-Vincent – killed some 30,000 people and wiped the city off the map. de Saint-Pierre, the little Paris of the Antilles.
A former British colony, the archipelago of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is made up of a main island, Saint Vincent, flanked to the south by the 31 islets of the Grenadines.
– .
