ryan

Just wondering if Montserrat had started to recover from the volcanic eruption.

Andrea

An acquaintance of mine just returned from Montserrat and raved about it. She stayed at the Vue Pointe and highly recommends it. She refers to the owners by their first names. They serve fish they caught that day at their restaurant. Also, there's just one dive master on the island - he's also the only vet - folks just stop by when they want to go diving, and he takes them out. Very friendly, laid-back atmosphere. Only about a third of the island was devastated by the volcano - the rest is lush and beautiful.

qqq

<BR>MONTSERRAT GOVERNOR HAS JUST BEEN ON THE RADIO TO ADVISE a populated area (parts of Happy Hill and Old Town and some nearby areas) on the fringes of the Belham valley which has been safe until now must be EVACUATED starting at 9 a.m. today Tuesday! So there is more activity going on. <BR>The dome is growing to the Northwest and this could allow pyroclastic flows to this part of the island. A fringe area is considered as high risk after serious studies over the past few weeks. Am sure there will be more on the web site... Below is some info from the late Sep. reports when things began to get active again.. <BR> <BR>SOUFRI&Egrave;RE HILLS Montserrat, West Indies 16.72°N, 62.18°W; summit elev. 1,052 m; All times are local (= UTC - 4 hours) <BR><BR>During 20-27 September, activity at Soufri&egrave;re Hills' dome complex increased in comparison to the previous week, with a major change in direction of extrusion following a hybrid earthquake swarm the previous week. Growth of the previously active NE lobe stagnated during the 21st to 22nd. A near vertical spine was extruded in the central area around the 21st, possibly indicating a switch in growth direction. Observations on the 26th revealed a large new lobe that had extruded towards the W in the area previously known as Gages Wall. Material spalling off of this lobe produced rockfalls and small pyroclastic flows down Gages Valley for up to 1 km. The most notable events were pyroclastic flows on the evening of the 25th and the morning of the 27th. Growth and rockfall activity then changed towards the northern flanks, suggesting a possible stagnation of the recently extruded western lobe. Spectacular incandescence and semi-continuous rockfall activity were observed on the NE and N flanks of the dome on the night of the 26th and the early hours of the 27th. The Washington VAAC reported that a low-level ash cloud from an emission on the 29th at 1510 was visible over E Puerto Rico on satellite imagery through the following day. On the 30th a light dusting of white ash fell in E Puerto Rico at Roosevelt Roads Naval Air Station. <BR><BR>Background. The complex andesitic Soufri&egrave;re Hills volcano occupies the southern half of the island of Montserrat. The summit area consists primarily of a series of lava domes emplaced along an ESE-trending zone. Non-eruptive seismic swarms occurred at 30-year intervals in the 20th century, but the first well-documented historical eruption on Montserrat did not take place until 1995. Long-term small-to-moderate ash eruptions were accompanied by lava dome growth and pyroclastic flows that forced evacuation of the southern half of the island and ultimately destroyed the capital city of Plymouth, causing severe social and economic disruption. The volcano is currently in a period of new dome growth. <BR><BR>Map <BR><BR>Sources: Montserrat Volcano Observatory, Washington VAAC <BR>Soufriere Hills Reports from the Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network <BR>

Karen

Does this volcano action affect the other islands?

john

Not really Karen, although when the pyroclastic flows have been heavy or during the recent eruptions, volcanic ash would spew as far as Antigua (mostly on the south/west side) and on some of the other neighbouring islands.