LA SOUFRIERE EMITTING OVER 1,000 TONNES OF SO2 PER DAY

(By Ernesto Cooke) – Roderick Stewart, lead Scientist monitoring activities at St Vincent’s La Soufriere, said on Tuesday, May 4, that the volcano is emitting over 1,000 tonnes of sulfur dioxide (SO2) per day.

Stewart said the emissions are above the levels expected if the volcano went back to sleep.

The scientist said it’s been above 1,000 tonnes per day in several cases, and on other occasions, it went as low as 300-400 tonnes per day, based on measurements.

One hundred tonnes or below are the gas measurements that would indicate a normal state. The number of earthquakes at the volcano has been low since the last explosion on April 22.

UWI SRC latest reports indicate that significant gas emissions indicate La Soufriere is still in a state of unrest.

Stewart said since last week; there have been no signs of any reactivation or pressurization at the volcano.

“We still have to wait quite a while, and we need to get a good look at the crater to work out what’s going on up there exactly, and we’re not ready to say that the volcano has gone back to sleep yet, but it is definitely in a quieter stage than it was during all the explosions,” Stewart said.

On Monday, the Belmont Volcano Observatory confirmed heavy lahar/mudflow in the river systems and valleys on both sides of the La Soufriere Volcano due to heavy rain.

Lahars are expected well into the year 2022; the island remains on Red Alert.