The new swarm of Volcano-Tectonic (VT) earthquakes which began at the La Soufrière Volcano at 6:38 am today continued at a fairly constant rate before starting to decline at about 2:00 p.m. Activities declined significantly at 4:00 p.m. although small Volcano-Tectonic earthquakes were still being recorded.
The current swarm of Volcano-Tectonic earthquakes have been located at a depth about 6 km below the summit of the La Soufrière Volcano. This is slightly deeper than those recorded between March 23 and 25, 2021 which were located at depths from 3 to 5 km below the summit. (Earlier estimates of these swarms were revised from 10 km to 3 to 5 km).
The largest Volcano-Tectonic earthquake was recorded at 2:16 pm today, with a magnitude of 3.9. There were nine more Volcano-Tectonic earthquakes in the swarm with magnitudes of 3.0 or more.
Today’s swarm of Volcano-Tectonic earthquakes were also much more intense compared to those which occurred during the period March 23-25 and contained many more small earthquakes, with an average rate of about 50 earthquakes per hour compared with 1.5 per hour in March.
There were several reports of earthquakes being felt today in communities close to the La Soufrière Volcano such as Fancy and Chateaubelair.
The alert level remains at Orange. The National Emergency Management Organisation is reminding the public that no evacuation order or notice has been issued.
The National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO) is also encouraging residents especially persons living in communities close to the volcano to be prepared in the event that it becomes necessary to evacuate at short notice.
