Jubilee Post News & Views
Special Desk
An explosive volcano eruption has covered the Caribbean island of St Vincent in smoke. Volcanic activity on La Soufrière was first detected on Thursday, when Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves urged more than 16,000 residents to urgently evacuate.
Since then the volcano has spewed ash 6,000m (20,000 ft) into the air. It is the first eruption on St Vincent since 1979. The worst on record killed more than 1,000 people in 1902.
A lava dome became visible on La Soufrière, suggesting it was about to erupt. Just before 09 on Friday (13:00 GMT), seismologists from the University of the West Indies confirmed that an explosive eruption was under way. Evacuees were taken to cruise ships and safer parts of the island.
Most of the Lesser Antilles islands are part of a long volcanic arc in the Eastern Caribbean. A volcano on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent has experienced an “explosive eruption,” according to officials there, hours after increased activity at the mountain set off a mandatory evacuation of nearby residents.
On Friday morning, St. Vincent’s National Emergency Management Organization, or NEMO, announced in a tweet that the volcano, known as La Soufrière, had experienced an explosive eruption. On its Facebook page, NEMO said the eruption occurred at 8:40 a.m. local time.
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Social media posts of video taken by witnesses on the ground showed plumes of ash rising from volcano.
