Volcanoes that have remained quiet for decades are coming to life in the eastern Caribbean, prompting authorities to issue alerts in Martinique and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines as scientists rush to study activities they say have not been observed for years.
The most recent alert was issued on Tuesday night for the La Soufriere volcano in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, a chain of islands that is home to more than 100,000 people. Authorities reported tremors, strong gas emissions, the formation of a new volcanic dome and changes in the crater lake.
The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency said scientists observed an “effusive eruption inside the crater, with gas and steam visible” on Tuesday.
The government has warned those living near the volcano to prepare to evacuate if necessary, declaring an orange warning that means that the eruptions can occur less than 24 hours in advance.
La Soufriere, located near the northern tip of the main island of São Vicente, last erupted in 1979, and an earlier eruption in 1902 killed about 1,600 people. This occurred just before Mount Pelee of Martinique erupted and destroyed the city of Saint-Pierre, killing more than 30,000 people.
Mt Pelee is also active again. In early December, authorities in French Caribbean territory issued a yellow alert due to seismic activity under the mountain. It was the first such warning issued since the last volcano eruption in 1932, Fabrice Fontaine, of the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Martinique, told the Associated Press.
While the eastern Caribbean is a long chain of active and extinct volcanoes, volcanologist Erik Klemetti of Denison University in Ohio said that activities at Mt Pelee and La Soufriere are unrelated.
“It’s not like one volcano erupts that others will,” he said. “This falls under the category of coincidence.”
He said the activity is evidence that the magma is lurking underground and seeping towards the surface, although he added that scientists still do not have a good understanding of what controls the speed at which it happens.
“The answers are not entirely satisfactory,” he said. “It is a science that is still being researched.”
Klemetti said the most active volcano in recent years in the eastern Caribbean was the Soufriere Hills in Montserrat, which has continuously erupted since 1995, destroying the capital Plymouth and killing at least 19 people in 1997.
Seventeen of the 19 living volcanoes in the eastern Caribbean are located on 11 islands, with the remaining two submerged near the island of Granada, including one called Kick ‘Em Jenny, which has been active in recent years.