Posted on 01/09/2007 8:27:27 PM PST by blam
Photo in the News: Volcano Eruption in Caribbean Is "Warning"
January 9, 2007—Smoke signals don't get much more ominous. A volcano on the island of Montserrat discharged a five-mile-high (eight-kilometer-high) cloud of superheated ash and gas yesterday—possibly portending another, disastrous eruption.
"I think it was a warning call … of what it can do," Vicky Hards, director of the Montserrat Volcano Observatory, told the Associated Press.
Residents have good reason to fear the Soufriere Hills volcano, given that in 1997 it wiped out the tiny Caribbean island's evacuated capital, Plymouth, killing 19 people and prompting an exodus of about half the island's population of approximately 10,000.
This week the crater's lava dome continues to grow—a process that began on December 24. Because yesterday's eruption failed to cause the lava shell to collapse, experts are worried that the mounting pressure could be released in a powerful blast.
Such an eruption would likely send hot ash and gas flying down the northwestern flanks of the mountain. As a result, the U.K. territory's government yesterday ordered dozens of families in the area to evacuate.
Bush's fault!
3-15-2006 Eruption
Isn't this island regarded as the potential source of a rather large, east coast tsunami? Some sort of shelf of land, poised to slough off into the Atlantic?
Yeah, I felt that way after eating in Bickford's.
That's the Azores.
There was a Mega Disasters program on THC concerning the island of La Palma in the Canaries. I don't know if Montserrat has the same charactaristics.
Global Warming!
Global Farting!
This used to be such a beautiful little island - very Irish in flavor of all things (it was originally settled by the Irish). Very green and tropical. We stayed there several times at a tiny little hotel on the NW coast -- the Vue Pointe -- with a great beach and very nice staff.
I'm sorry they're having more trouble with the Soufriere . . . shades of Mt. Pelee and St. Pierre . . .
If you haven't seen it yet, go to Google maps and look up Montserrat. They don't have really high resolution images of the island, but the orange glow of the lava lake in the caldera is unmistakable...it was apparently caught mid-eruption.
That jokes getting a little old.
BOOMmarking ;)
There is a new one now that disputes all those conclusions about the mega-tsunami aspect of La Plama.
" I don't know if Montserrat has the same charactaristics."
No. I'm not aware of any tsunami concerns from Monserrat.
No, no. Haven't you heard? It's now Pelosi's fault.
Wow!! Bickford's still exists?
FYI....IIRC we were discussing this a while back..looks like it's about to blow again
All of the carribean volcanoes have some danger of local damaging tsunamis from flank collapses, and it's happened before, but none pose a tsunami threat to the US mainland.
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