The British overseas territory of Montserrat is joining the trend of island states pushing to attract remote workers to come and stay awhile. (Image credit: obertharding/Alamy) https://www.bbc.co.uk/
The British overseas territory of Montserrat is joining the trend of island states pushing to attract remote workers to come and stay awhile.
Compared with the rest of the world, the Covid-19 pandemic has given Montserrat a pass. A British overseas territory, the volcanic eastern Caribbean island has suffered negligible rates of Covid, with fewer than 200 infections and just two deaths among its population of 5,000 people, known as Montserratians.
Montserrat’s government now wants to turn its containment success into a tourist draw through a year-long digital nomad visa. After a lockdown in 2021, its tourism-dependent economy is joining the trend of island states pushing to attract remote workers to come and stay a while as Covid persists elsewhere.
Launched in April 2021, the programme, called the Montserrat Remote Worker Stamp, offers a “best of both worlds” approach that balances nature and connectivity, said Rosetta West-Gerald, Montserrat’s new director of tourism.
Longer-term, she said, the island hopes the scheme will foster extended relationships – and a deeper economic impact.
“Beyond 2022, it is our hope that some of the remote workers will fall in love with the island and be converted into homeowners or residential visitors,” West-Gerald said.
Why should I go now?
As Covid rates begin to wane globally, the island’s appeal has only grown. At its launch last year, the visa set itself apart by requiring a minimum stay of two months, rather than a maximum duration found in similar schemes. Then in early 2022, the two-month minimum was scrapped. Digital nomads can stay for a year or a week, as they prefer.
That flexibility perhaps stems from a need to boost visits by all possible means. “[During the pandemic] the closure of the island drastically affected the economy,” said Clover Lea, who runs the Gingerbread Hill bed and breakfast in the village of St Peter’s. Her reservations fell by 80%.
Gingerbread Hill does shopping, grocery pick-up and other errands for quarantining guests (Credit: Hemis/Alamy)
Others are more sceptical of the digital nomad scheme so far. “I don’t know if the remote worker thing has really had much of an effect,” said Margaret Wilson, proprietor of Olveston House, a hotel. Yet she recognises the island’s appeal, even if the scheme remains a work in progress.
Apart from pandemic-related changes, Montserrat’s appeal is rooted in history, which may be disappearing as hyper-development and overtourism transform other Caribbean islands. Its best-known qualities include its famous friendliness, an outsized musical tradition and pride in its Irish heritage.
In the 17th and 18th Centuries, thousands of Irish Catholics sought opportunity beyond persecution in Britain and colonial America, betting their futures on Montserrat’s export-focused – and slave-based – economy. Today’s Montserratians express pride in their combined Irish and African family trees. Montserrat is the only location outside Ireland to make St Patrick’s Day a national holiday. The festival, which also marks the anniversary of a 1768 slave rebellion, has become a key touchpoint of Montserratian culture and identity.
At the festival’s heart are culinary standouts like goat water (actually a stew), Montserrat’s national dish. It’s a reflection of the island’s combined African and Irish ancestries: a riff on Irish goat stew with a mix of old-world African spices like Scotch bonnet chilli powder – topped with a decidedly new-world shot of rum. Since the recipe calls for hours of simmering, goat water is usually prepared only for special occasions.
In 1995, blasts from the Soufrière Hills volcano covered Montserrat’s southern half in ash and soot (Credit: MichaelUtech/Getty Images)
The island is in many ways still recovering from a more recent historical shock. Jolted by a series of volcanic eruptions that began in 1995, the blasts from the Soufrière Hills volcano covered the island’s southern half in ash and soot. Thousands of islanders fled to safety, many relocating to the UK. Today, the island’s population is half what it was pre-eruption.
This is the Caribbean like it used to be
But the same reality – the island’s sparse population – makes Montserrat a rare crowds-free Caribbean locale.
“This is the Caribbean like it used to be,” Lea said.
Travel with no trace
For so small an island, Montserrat’s menu for sustainable tourism runs long. In Centre Hills, a forest reserve unscathed by the volcanic blasts, visitors can hike up to achieve cinematic views of the island and surrounding ocean. In February, the British government announced plans for a £35m “climate-resilient” port at Little Bay, on the island’s north-west side.
For families with children, the Montserrat National Trust in October launched the EcoPlay Park, an outdoor space and learning centre within the island’s botanical garden. The site includes playgrounds and an “orchid wall” describing the endemic Monserrat orchid. EcoPlay “expresses who we are and where we live”, according to Yasmin Shariff, an architect involved in the project.
The Oriole Walkway trail is Montserrat’s most popular hike (Credit: Hemis/Alamy)
Kids of all ages might get enthusiastic about Montserrat’s diverse animal life. The Oriole Walkway trail, named after the yellow-breasted national bird, is Montserrat’s most popular hike. Animal watchers can scout for other exotic fauna: the galliwasp, a species of lizard; and the “mountain chicken” – actually a frog, whose name suggests its size (among the world’s largest) and its past use as a food source by Montserrat’s mountain populations.
In the near future, the island will be rolling out a tourist-focused environmental programme that will showcase its highland ecosystems, birdwatching and volcano viewing. The programme will allow visitors to learn about Montserrat’s full breadth of natural diversity, West-Gerald said.
Know before you go
As many pandemic precautions remain in place, the inter-island ferry service for Monserrat, nearby Antigua and Barbuda and other islands is suspended. Travellers can fly via Antigua before an onward 15-minute hop to Montserrat. Private charters can be arranged at FlyMontserrat.com.
Fully vaccinated visitors, while allowed to visit the island, are required to quarantine for five days, with a mandatory test required before being allowed to cease isolation. (Montserrat previously required a quarantine of 10 days.)
Many accommodations are offering reduced rates and added services to assist quarantining guests. Gingerbread Hill has begun to do shopping, grocery pick-up and other errands for their guests. Olveston House – once owned by Beatles record producer George Martin – offers similar services.
—
Join more than three million BBC Travel fans by liking us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter and Instagram.
If you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter called “The Essential List”. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Culture, Worklife and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday.
This is La Soufriere, St. Vincent – may remind of Soufriere Hills, Montserrat
The largest volcano on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent is home to La Soufrière erupted beginning at about 8.30 a.m. “Four days shy of its anniversary on the second Friday on April 9, 2021, in spectacular fashion, sending an ash plume shooting an estimated 52,000 feet into the atmosphere and forcing the evacuation of thousands.
The explosion of ash was so large that it was visible from space on weather satellites. Southwesterly winds carried the cloud of ash over northern parts of St. Vincent and over the waters of the western Atlantic Ocean between the islands of Saint Lucia and Barbados, as seen from a photo on the front page.
Throughout the weekend, much of the
island was covered in ash from the eruptions that continued on through Friday
night. By Sunday night, eruptions were firing up again as conditions worsened,
Dozens of residents required rescuing from
the northern part of the island as the new dangers place even more islanders at
risk.
Richard Robertson, a geologist with the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre, very well known and remembered having worked for long stints in Montserrat, eventually heading the Montserrat Volcano Observatory, said during a Sunday night news conference that there is evidence of pyroclastic flows, the rush of super-heated gas and debris traveling down the mountainside as fast as 120 miles per hour, in the areas around the volcano.
“These flows are really moving masses of
destruction,” Robertson said. “They just destroy everything in its path. Even
if you have the strongest house in the world, they will just bulldoze it off
the ground.”
The abrupt eruptions continued to launch
debris and a cloud of ash into the air throughout Sunday night, leaving its
remnants scattered throughout the island.
On Saturday, he said the roughly 110,000
residents of St. Vincent, many of whom have already sought refuge on other
islands, should expect to see the largest blast of their lifetimes in the
coming days
“The explosive eruption has started and
it is possible you could have more explosions like these,” he said during a
press conference on Saturday, according to NPR. “The first one is not
necessarily the worst one, the first bang is not necessarily the biggest bang.
Very early Sunday morning, the National
Emergency Management Organization of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (NEMO SVG) said on Twitter that a “massive power outage” was underway following another
“explosive event” of the volcano. The island-wide power outage began just after
1.00 a.m., local time, on Sunday morning as loud rumblings continued to emit
from the volcano, according to News 784 in St. Vincent.
Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the
Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves said water supplies to most of the island had been
cut off and its airspace had been closed due to the smoke and plumes of
volcanic ash moving through the atmosphere,
The island had been preparing for the
eruption, but not the magnitude of it. Around 6:00 p.m. Thursday, Gonsalves
announced in a press conference the evacuation order for residents in “red zones” on the northeast and northwest sides of the island.
I have issued an evacuation order to
all residents living in the RED ZONES on the North East and the North West of
the island. All residents are asked to act accordingly with immediate effect to
ensure their safety and that of their families.
The Government-led evacuations
immediately began, but they were to be assisted by nearby cruise line ships, arriving Friday, to help get people to safety.
However, given the ongoing COVID-19
pandemic, evacuations are more complicated than usual.
Gonsalves said in his press conference that people have to be vaccinated before boarding a cruise ship or going to another island. The minister also highly recommended those taking shelter in Saint Vincent be vaccinated.
The La Soufrière volcano on
St. Vincent has had five explosive eruptions in the past, with the most recent
being 1979. There was, however, an uptick in seismic activity more recently in December of 2020.
Gonsalves
urged people to be patient and continue to take precautions as experts warned
that explosive eruptions from the volcano could continue for days or even
weeks, NBC News reported.
In
an interview with NBC Radio, Gonsalves said that it could take up to
four months for life to return to normal, depending on the extent of the
damage. He added that agriculture will be badly affected.
In
extremely powerful volcanic eruptions, the ash and aerosols released in the
eruption can pass through the troposphere, the lowest layer of Earth’s
atmosphere, and penetrate into the stratosphere, the second layer of the
atmosphere.
If
enough of the ash and other pollutants released in the eruption make it into
the stratosphere, they can influence the climate around the globe. The boundary
between the troposphere and stratosphere is about 6 miles (10 km) above the
ground, a little higher than where commercial jets typically fly.
Response
was immediate from the region
CARICOM
governments and especially OECS governments immediately responded to these
eruptions by sending and offering assistance to the stricken 16,000 populated
area immediately affected by the continuing explosions and eruptive events.
The
OECS launched the “Stronger Together
Campaign” an Emergency Response for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines” is
an initiative organized by the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States
Commission relative to a coordinated approach to assist with relief and
recovery efforts on behalf of our Member State, Saint Vincent and the
Grenadines. Donations are invited from individuals and corporations across the
Caribbean and globally. All funds (100%) raised via this campaign will be
directly transferred to the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
There
is no limit on the value of pledges and contributions. Pledges are invited from
individuals and corporations across the Caribbean and globally.
Montserrat
had earlier sent one of its MVO scientists in the leadup to the eruption.
Christopher Thomas joined other UWI) Seismic Research Center scientists who
included Richard (Richie) Robertson with he worked here in Montserrat, for the
team that monitored the volcano up to its eruption and after.
Government of Montserrat Officials at Warehouse with Supplies for St. Vincent & the Grenadines
On
April 28, 2021 GIU release advised “The Government of Montserrat will deploy a
shipment of emergency relief supplies to help address the immediate needs of
the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines affected by the ongoing eruption
of the La Soufrière Volcano.
It
informed further: “Twelve pallets of relief supplies from Montserrat’s
emergency stockpile containing 7,200- N95 masks, 400 blankets, 200 cots, 140
helmets, water pump and accessories, eight folding tables and push-brooms, will
be shipped on April 29, 2021. These were to be collected by the vessel MV
Promise Kept to arrive in St Vincent and the Grenadines the following day,
Friday, April 30, 2021.
The relief supplies from the national emergency stockpile managed by the Disaster Management Coordination Agency (DMCA), are designed to meet the basic needs of residents staying in Emergency Shelters, overseen by the National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) in St Vincent and the Grenadines.
The move was a follow-up to the GoM’s April 12 announcement that Montserrat will donate humanitarian supplies, contribute $150,000.00 (US$55,555), and establish a local team to provide support to the people of the volcano stricken islands.
Other
islands as reported from OECS headquarters
The
Government of Grenada will provide $1 million in support for the Government and
people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, to help deal with the impact of the
explosive eruptions at the La Soufriere volcano.
Grenada
initially pledged to accept hundreds of Vincentian evacuees if they opted for
relocation and immediately began making arrangements to do so, in collaboration
with St. George’s University. Meanwhile, preparations continue to be made to
host evacuees in the event that persons decide to take advantage of the
opportunity.
These items include drinking water, water tanks, collapsible water bladders, buckets, portable toilets, sleeping mats, field tents, respirator masks with filters, hygiene kits, disinfectants, and sanitisers.
As
the volcanic disaster in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines continues to unfold,
regional solidarity is once again at the forefront of relief efforts.
Antigua
and Barbuda
The
Government of Antigua and Barbuda was among the first and began its response
efforts on Thursday, April 8, 2021 after Prime Minister Hon. Gaston Browne
consulted with his counterpart in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Prime
Minister Dr. Hon. Ralph Gonzalves. It
was at this juncture that Antigua and Barbuda agreed to accept 250 Vincentian evacuees
who would be accommodated at the Jolly Beach Hotel. The gesture was part of a
wider regional response to the developing situation in Saint Vincent and the
Grenadines.
In addition to accommodation, the GoA extended support and services to evacuees. While in Antigua, the Ministry of Health will provide medical support; the Transport Board will provide the necessary transportation for official movement; the Ministry of Education will facilitate the education of students; the security forces will provide security as necessary for the well-being of all, and the Ministry of Works will assist with physical security if necessary.
Donations
from corporate and civic organizations as well as the national warehouse in
Antigua and Barbuda were coordinated through the National Office of Disaster
Services. So far, support has been
received from Mega Distributors, the Lion’s Club, Best Buy, the Rotary Club of
Antigua, Premier Beverages, GCS Bottling Services Ltd, and the Antigua and
Barbuda Red Cross. These donations, which included water, water tanks, housing
supplies, personal care items, mosquito nets, generators, lanterns,
flashlights, and relief kits, were shipped in a 20-foot container on April 12,
2021.
World Bank
The
World Bank disbursed US$20 million to support the Government of Saint Vincent and
the Grenadines’ response to the crisis posed by the La Soufrière volcano
eruption.
The
explosive eruption began on April 8 and has required the evacuation of 20,000
people from the high-risk zones around the volcano, both to other parts of
Saint Vincent and surrounding countries. Explosions are continuing, and the
falling ash is causing air quality concerns and interruptions in electricity
and water supply.
The
funds are disbursed from a contingent credit line from the World Bank, known as
the Catastrophe Deferred Drawdown Option (Cat-DDO), approved in June 2020.
Dominica
The
Government and people of Dominica continue to stand in solidarity with the
people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and reiterates the support of all
Dominicans during the volcanic crisis unfolding on the island, Prime Minister
Skerrit said.
Following an eruptive event of ash flow
Before April 12 he conversed with Hon. Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, and offered support to assist with the evacuation of residents during this natural disaster as the Government worked to confirm logistics and make preparations for the accommodation of a group of Vincentians for a period of up to five months.
All
local partners and international organizations on the island are collaborating
with the Government and a national response is being finalized.
He
said also ‘the expressions of concern and outpouring of support for the people
of St. Vincent and the Grenadines have been exceptional and reflects the
kindness and brotherhood we are known for.’
St Lucia sends assists with transporting stranded OECS workers from St. Vincent
Meanwhile, St. Lucia on the receiving end of ashfall assisted with 139 Stranded Agricultural Workers in the wake of the La Soufriere Volcano explosion. They were farmworkers en route to Canada were part of the seasonal agricultural workers’ programme.
It
was reported already that Dominicans have reached out and offered assistance to
house individuals who need to be evacuated from St. Vincent. In this regard, a
special hotline was established for the general public to offer support for
housing or other areas of assistance.
The agricultural workers, 95 Vincentians, 18 Saint Lucians, and 23 Grenadians, were en route to Canada for employment on the seasonal agricultural workers’ programme when their flight from St. Vincent to Canada was canceled. The workers arrived via the Cruise Ship “Serenade of the Seas” on Saturday morning and remained in Saint Lucia for a few days until they were able to board a flight to Canada.
Grenada sends personnel and other support to St Vincent
While wreaking havoc on the lives of residents, many of whom had to evacuate the northern part of the island categorised as the Red Zone, the entire population continued to cope with a myriad of issues, from the destruction of property, livestock, and crops, the presence of volcanic ash which is dangerous to human health, disruptions in telecommunications services to contaminated water supplies. To this end, the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL) came to the aid of the people of St. Vincent with a donation of bottled water.
ECTEL’s Managing Director, Mr. Andrew Millet learned of the urgent need for water. He said, “ECTEL stands in solidarity with the people…We cannot begin to comprehend the distress they must be feeling, having to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic, and now this natural phenomenon.” The matter of further assistance to St. Vincent and the Grenadines was discussed at the 41st Meeting of ECTEL’s Council of Ministers, the result being a donation of 24 pallets of water departed Saint Lucia on Wednesday, April 14, and arrived in St. Vincent on Friday, April 16.
By Courtney Travis, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Updated Apr. 12, 2021, 7:48 AM AST Copied
Hours after an initial eruption of the La Soufriere volcano on the
Caribbean island of St. Vincent, a second explosion was reported,
resulting in a massive plume of smoke and ash.
The largest volcano on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent erupted on Friday in spectacular fashion, sending an ash plume shooting an estimated 52,000 feet into the atmosphere and forcing the evacuation of thousands.
Through the weekend, much of the island was covered in ash from the eruptions that continued on through Friday night. By Sunday night, eruptions were firing up again as conditions worsened.
Dozens of residents required rescuing from the northern part of the island as the new dangers place even more islanders at risk.
A man rides his bicycle along the main Black Rock road, covered with ash coming from the eruption of La Soufriere volcano in the neighboring island of St. Vincent, on the outskirts of Bridgetown, Barbados, Sunday, April 11, 2021. (AP Photo/Chris Brandis)
Richard Robertson, a geologist with the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre, said during a Sunday night news conference that there is evidence of pyroclastic flows, the rush of super-heated gas and debris traveling down the mountainside as fast as 120 miles per hour, in the areas around the volcano, NPR reported.
“These flows are really moving masses of destruction,” Robertson said.
“They just destroy everything in its path. Even if you have the
strongest house in the world, they will just bulldoze it off the
ground.”
The abrupt eruptions continued to launch debris and a cloud of ash into the air throughout Sunday night, leaving its remnants scattered throughout the island.
On Saturday, he said the roughly 110,000 residents of St. Vincent, many of whom have already sought refuge on other islands, should expect to see the largest blast of their lifetimes in the coming days
“The explosive eruption has started and it is possible you could have more explosions like these,” he said during a press conference on Saturday, according to NPR. “The first one is not necessarily the worst one, the first bang is not necessarily the biggest bang this volcano will give.”
The volcano on the island of St. Vincent in the Caribbean appears to be erupting again with several plumes in the last few hours. pic.twitter.com/2BgHXe7jF9
The volcano on the island of St. Vincent in the Caribbean appears to be erupting again with several plumes in the last few hours. pic.twitter.com/2BgHXe7jF9
Very early Sunday morning, the National Emergency Management Organization of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (NEMO SVG) said on Twitter that a “massive power outage” was underway following another “explosive event” of the volcano. The island-wide power outage began just after 1 a.m., local time, on Sunday morning as loud rumblings continued to emit from the volcano, according to News 784 in St. Vincent.
The Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves said water supplies to most of the island had been cut off and its airspace had been closed due to the smoke and plumes of volcanic ash moving through the atmosphere, according to the BBC.
St. Vincent is a volcanic island located in the Lesser Antilles of the
Caribbean and is home to La Soufrière, its largest volcano.
The NEMO SVG reported later in the morning that the ash plume had reached about 5 miles (8 km) into the air, and ash had fallen at Argyle International Airport. A NOAA-SSEC satellite estimated that the ash traveled an astonishing 52,000 feet into the atmosphere, or about 10 miles up.
Photo from the explosive eruption that occurred at La Soufriere, SVG at 8:41 a.m. local time. Ash has begun to fall on the flanks of the volcano and surrounding communities including Chateaubelair and Petite Bordel. (Photo/UWI Seismic ReasearchCentre)
The explosion of ash was so large that it was visible from space on weather satellites. Southwesterly winds carried the cloud of ash over northern parts of St. Vincent and over the waters of the western Atlantic Ocean between the islands of Saint Lucia and Barbados.
NEMO reported that the ash was extending at least 20,000 feet (more than 6 km) to the northeast of the volcano.
This GOES-16 true-color satellite loop shows what the La Soufriere volcano eruption looked like from space on the morning of April 9, 2021 (GOES-16/NOAA)
Geologist Richard Robertson told News 784 in St. Vincent on Friday that the volcano had returned to a quieter period, but more eruptions are expected to follow.
A second eruption occurred later Friday evening, NEMO reported, jettisoning ash over 2 miles into the atmosphere.
Ash venting resumed at La Soufrière at around 2:45 p.m. local time, the UWI Seismic Research Center reported Friday evening, and lightning could be seen in the ash column. Continuous tremors have been recorded since 3 p.m., and the center noted that the volcano continues its explosive phase which may last several days to weeks.
Friday afternoon, lightning was visible in the volcano’s ash column due to its highly charged nature. (Photo/UWI Seismic Research Centre)
”If there is a much bigger explosion, the ash can spread further to the south,“ Robertson said, adding that, “This could continue for days or weeks, and monitoring will continue.”
As seismic activity continued and became more intense, with magma visible near the surface later on Thursday, the country’s National Emergency Management Organization raised the island’s alert level from orange to red, according to NPR, meaning that eruption was considered “imminent”.
Smoke spews from the glowing dome of the La Soufriere volcano in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on Thursday, April 8, 2021 (right), and the resulting eruption (left) on Friday, April 9, 2021. (Photos/The UWI Seismic Research Centre)
Around 6:00 p.m. Thursday, Gonsalves announced in a press conference the evacuation order for residents in “red zones” on the northeast and northwest sides of the island.
I have issued an evacuation order to all residents living in the RED ZONES on the North East and the North West of the island. All residents are asked to act accordingly with immediate effect to ensure their safety and that of their families. pic.twitter.com/AJQlCDtOPg
I have issued an evacuation order to all residents living in the RED ZONES on the North East and the North West of the island. All residents are asked to act accordingly with immediate effect to ensure their safety and that of their families. pic.twitter.com/AJQlCDtOPg
I have issued an evacuation order to all residents living in the RED ZONES on the North East and the North West of the island. All residents are asked to act accordingly with immediate effect to ensure their safety and that of their families. pic.twitter.com/AJQlCDtOPg
Gonsalves said in his press conference that people have to be vaccinated before boarding a cruise ship or to go to another island. The minister also highly recommended those taking shelter in Saint Vincent be vaccinated.
According to CNN, the La Soufrière volcano on St. Vincent has had five explosive eruptions in the past, with the most recent being 1979. There was, however, an uptick in seismic activity more recently in December of 2020.
Gonsalves urged people to be patient and continue to take precautions as experts warned that explosive eruptions from the volcano could continue for days or even weeks, NBC News reported.
In an interview with NBC Radio, Gonsalves said that it could take up to four months for life to return to normal, depending on the extent of the damage. He added that agriculture will be badly affected.
In extremely powerful volcanic eruptions, the ash and aerosols released in the eruption can pass through the troposphere, the lowest layer of Earth’s atmosphere, and penetrate into the stratosphere, the second layer of the atmosphere.
If enough of the ash and other pollutants released in the eruption make it into the stratosphere, they can influence the climate around the globe. The boundary between the troposphere and stratosphere is about 6 miles (10 km) above the ground, a little higher than where commercial jets typically fly.
TMR: Martinique going on alert – In contrast, see below Montserrat Soufriere Hills volcano report for week ending Friday, December 4 2020
Martinique – Mount Pelée Volcano
December 4, 2020
Experts in neighbouring Martinique are stepping up their vigilance as a result of activity at Mount Pelée Volcano and have raised the level of alert, local reports say.
Martinique 1ere on Friday quoted Fabrice Fontaine, the Director of the Volcano and Seismology Observatory in the French overseas territory, as saying that the experts had urged a switch to a yellow level alert.
He said it meant stepping up vigilance including aerial reconnaissance.
Yellow is the third level of vigilance on a scale that has 5.
The next step is the pre-alert, in orange then the alert in red.
However, the Prefect of Martinique, Stanislas Cazelles, says the yellow alert is no precursor of signs of an eruption.
“This reminds us that Pelée is a living volcano. We are going to strengthen its surveillance. This yellow alert is not an alert for the population but for scientists”, he explained.
“We detected a reactivation of Mount Pelee. This is normal. On the other hand, we have absolutely no precursor sign of an eruption but it could occur on the scale of a few years or perhaps less, ” Marc Chaussidon, director of the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, was quoted by RCI.FM as saying.
Last September 51 volcano-tectonic type tremors had been recorded on Mount Pelée and the number has been increasing since November last year, local reports say.
Montserrat Volcano Observatory – Weekly Report
Soufriere Hills volcano view from Plymouth
27 November to 04 December 2020
Activity at the Soufrière Hills Volcano
remains low.
The seismic network recorded five volcano-tectonic earthquakes this week.
Measurements of SO2 flux were
taken from the helicopter on 01 December and 02 December. The average flux
values were 337 tonnes per day on the 01 December from eight traverses and 172
tonnes per day on 02 December from eight traverses.
Due to the large size of the lava dome,
pyroclastic flows can occur at any time without warning on any side of the
volcano, including Gages from where they can travel rapidly into Plymouth.
Tracks across the Belham Valley can be destroyed or heavily modified by flash
flooding or lahars, and caution should be exercised crossing the valley during
and after rainfall.
The Hazard Level is 1. There is no public
access to Zone V, including Plymouth. Maritime Zones E and W are daytime
transit only between sunrise and sunset (boats may sail through the zone but
must not stop). Anyone who ignores these restrictions is liable to be
prosecuted.
This report along with additional
information on the Soufrière Hills Volcano and the Hazard Level System can be
found at the MVO website: www.mvo.ms. Old
weekly reports can be downloaded from http://www.mvo.ms/pub/Activity_Reports/.
You can also follow @mvoms on both Facebook and Twitter.
Graham A. Ryan Director
Monitoring Data Summary
Seismic Activity (number of events)
This week
Last week
Last 4 weeks(weekly average)
Rockfalls
0
0
1
VT earthquakes
5
7
8
Hybrid earthquakes
0
0
0
LP earthquakes
0
0
0
Last year (Nov 29 – Dec 6 VT earthquakes 9 14 10
Sulphur Dioxide Flux (tonnes per day)
This week
Last week
Last 4 weeks
Average
255
326
n/a
Maximum
441
387
n/a
Minimum
147
209
n/a
Note: The numbers provided in the tables above are provisional and
may be subject to change after further analysis of the data.
