A large explosive eruption has occurred overnight at the La Soufriere volcano. The eruption was seen on the Martinique radar at approximately 4.15 am.
According to NEMO the islands disaster agency “dome collapse and pyroclastic flow along the valleys on the eastern and western coast” have occurred.
On Monday morning, the island’s government said that all essential workers, including those at the seaports, were to report to work while persons assigned to shelters were asked to continue to assist.
NEMO on its Twitter page said, “Pyroclastic flows at La Soufriere possible destruction and devastation of communities close to the volcano”.
The islands disaster agency reported that the current activity pattern similar to that of the 1902 eruption and were likely to cause more damage and destruction.
New satellite imagery taken on April 10 2021, shows what one volcanologist described as a new vent at St Vincent’s La Soufriere volcano.
Some 20,000 persons have been evacuated from the Red Zone, with 3178 in shelter and others at families and friends in the safe zone.
The island’s Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves made an urgent last-minute call on Monday morning for any civilian remaining in the Red Zone to get out as more explosions are expected throughout the day.
The La Soufrière volcano first erupted on Friday, blanketing the island in a layer of ash and forcing more than 16,000 people to evacuate their homes. Smaller explosions continued over the weekend, causing power cuts and disrupting water supplies.
Emergency officials have described the landscape as a “battle zone”.
“The volcano continues to erupt explosively with the production of copious amounts of ash,” the University of the West Indies’ Seismic Research Center said.
“Explosions and accompanying ash fall, of similar or larger magnitude, are likely to continue to occur over the next few days impacting St Vincent and neighbouring islands,” it warned.
June Shipley, who is visiting her family on the island, told the reporters there were widespread fears a larger eruption could be imminent.
“We do hear the rumblings of the volcano and we do see the smoke,” she said.
White-coloured dust has covered buildings and roads around the island, including in its capital Kingstown.
The warning to expect further activity at La Soufrière followed what officials described as an “explosive event” on Sunday.
The emergency management organisation Nemo tweeted: “Massive power outage following another explosive event at La Soufriere Volcano. Lightning, thunder and rumblings.”
It later spoke of “possible destruction and devastation of communities close to the volcano”, and compared the eruption to that of 1902, the worst in St Vincent’s history when more than 1,000 people were killed.
‘We’ve had no running water for days’
Rhiannon West, who is originally from England, lives in the south-east of St Vincent with her partner and six-month-old baby. Recounting her experience she said “we stood outside our home on Saturday and watched as the volcano erupted and a huge billowing cloud of ash was sent into the air. It was incredible but also terrifying. Since then we’ve been sheltering indoors with everything closed. It’s scary thinking about what we can do to protect the baby from the ash. We’ve put sheets around the bottom of the doors to make sure none of it gets in.”
“We keep losing electricity, and we’ve had no running water since Thursday. Our local shop has run out of bottled water, and it’s very scary to think we could run out ourselves. This could go on for weeks and neither of us can work because of the power supply issues. The atmosphere is just very eerie. Everything is grey with a thick layer of ash and people are scared that these eruptions could get worse.”
How is the wider region being affected?
The ash has also spread beyond St Vincent, reaching as far as Barbados which is 120 miles (190 km) to the east. People there have been urged to stay indoors and told to avoid breathing in the ash.
“This is to protect yourselves and your family,” said Chief Medical Officer Kenneth George.
People on the island of St Lucia, which is around 47 miles north of St Vincent, have been warned to expect air quality to be affected, with harmful gases potentially making it harder to breathe for people with conditions such as asthma.
One resident of St Lucia, Olivia, told the BBC that she was worried about a possible change in wind direction and ash being carried northwards.
“I am terrified of all the effects that are unknown at this point, ash in the middle of a pandemic – no-one is prepared for that,” she said.
“Victoria Hospital has been transformed to become the Respiratory Hospital, and is treating Covid patients” she said, adding: “So technically, persons suffering from the effects of ash inhalation would be on the wards with Covid patients.”
When did the new eruptions begin?
The volcano had been dormant since 1979, but in late 2020 it started spewing steam and smoke and making rumbling noises.
The first sign that an eruption was imminent came on Thursday evening, when a lava dome became visible on La Soufrière.
Just before 09:00 on Friday (13:00 GMT), seismologists from the University of the West Indies confirmed that an “explosive eruption” was under way.