Ten years past since the abrupt eruption of Soufriere Hills volcano on the island of Montserrat leaving locals and tourists devastated. (Date) marked the day of when the said to be inactive volcano erupted. Due to a partial collapse of the dome the volcano’s crater, loads of ash, hot gases, and rocks was shot out approximately 15 km into the sky. From this, many sirens were triggered and a massive evacuation took place. No lives were taken. Although, major damage in houses, hospitals, airports and community centers was found.
After the terrifying event, the director of the Montserrat Volcano Observatory, Paul Cole, stated that this eruption appeared to have ejected the most material in four years. He also estimated that ten to fifteen percent of the hardened lava in the dome of the volcano had collapsed. “When we’re looking at the lava dome now, there’s a large scoop out of it that’s missing,” Cole said.
Ten years prior to the event, scientists warned the British government that Soufriere Hills volcano still remained active and would erupt again. However, their predictions were ignored. The islanders were never aware of the fact that they were living in a potential zone of disaster. From this, and the deposition of the ignored report presented by scientists, it may have costed UK taxpayers tens of millions of dollars. The beginning sentence of the report read: “Soufriere Hills volcano is active and will erupt again. It is a potential threat to many of the people that live in southern Montserrat.” The report, not being specific on dates and when the eruption would occur, suggested that all public resources should be moved out of the capital, Plymouth.
The Essay on Soufriere Hills Volcano Eruption Island
AN OTHER ERUPTION? The January 13, 1999 a new volcano, a strato volcano, erupted. This volcano is the Soufriere Hills on the island of Montserrat in the West Indies near Cuba and Barbados. Montserrat has three groups of mountains, the highest group is the Soufriere Hills his elevation is 915 meters in the southern part of the island. Christopher Columbus reached Montserrat in 1493 during is second ...
Two years after the report, the Island was devastated by Hurricane Hugo. This hurricane caused a huge disaster on the island and presented an opportunity for the British government to follow up on the report. However this was never addressed.
In 1997, another eruption took place on the island. This sent pyroclastic surges and ash across a large area including Plymouth (which was evacuated again).
In the process of this sudden evacuation, nineteen people were killed. Days after this many smaller eruption took place. The outcome of these events left the capitol, Plymouth, approximately eighty percent destroyed and buried in 1.4 metres of hot ash. This made the capital uninhabitable for residents to return to. One year later, Plymouth was abandoned and a new capitol was formed; Brades.
In the present day, the population of the island is about 6,000, one third of what it used to be before Soufriere Hills became active. Many people also believe that the population is decreasing by the day. Other people have predicted that in the future, the island will be completely abandoned and become a volcano hazard zone restricting anyone from living there. Even now, these terrifying events are still occurring.
