Photo Credit UWI SRC 

An Explosive Eruption At La Soufriere Volcano Took Place On Thursday 22nd April 2021 at 11.08 am

(By Ernesto Cooke) – The UWI SRC says an explosive eruption occurred at La Soufriere volcano on the Caribbean Island of St Vincent on Thursday 22nd April at 11.08 am .

Following the explosion, the monitoring centre said the plume had risen to above 8km into the atmosphere. Most of the material seems to be going out towards the sea, the SRC reported.

The UWI SRC said explosions could happen without warning during the ongoing eruption, which became explosive on 9th April 2021.

On Thursday morning, geologist Richard Robertson lead scientist on the island, said small long-period and hybrid earthquakes are being recorded, with their rate of occurrence increasing gradually over the last 24 hours.

In speaking to the current pattern, Robertson says it is unclear precisely what they mean.

Changes At La Soufriere Remains Unclear, Earthquakes Increasing • News784

“It could mean that the movements that you have are a sort of battle between the forces that wish to push the material out and the forces that are resisting it”.

Robertson said the volcano is still into the early phase of the volatile component of the eruption; he says there has been a slight change over the last twenty-four hours, indicating something different.

The lead scientist says given the conditions now at La Soufriere, which includes a massive crater at the top, there is no clear evidence that there is any blockage. Therefore it should be easy for materials to come out.

Explosions with accompanying ashfall, of similar or larger magnitude, can occur with little or no warning, the UWI SRC said.

Thirteen thousand, three hundred (13,303) persons have been displaced so far. The alert level remains RED.