The longer La Soufrière’s activity lasts, the more dire St. Vincent’s situation becomes · Global Voices
Hardened lava flow from St. Vincent's La Soufrière volcano, taken in 2009. Photo by <PERSON> on Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Three days after St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ La Soufrière erupted, activity at the volcano is still intense, with the lingering fallout affecting not only the country itself, but many of its Caribbean neighbours.
At 4:15 (GMT-4) on the morning of April 12, the island experienced the volcano's biggest explosion yet, accompanied by pyroclastic density currents (PDCs), known for being one of the most dangerous aspects of a volcanic eruption, as the hot emissions of ash and debris close to the ground have the ability to travel really fast—as much as hundreds of metres per second—and reach as far as hundreds of kilometres from the source.
The northernmost areas of the island located closest to the volcano—sections of the Red Zone that were evacuated as soon as the threat became imminent—have been practically buried under volcanic ash, with the roofs of many abandoned homes collapsing from the weight:
The landscape of beautiful #stvincent is shrouded in #ash from overnight #explosions and #ashventing from #lasoufriere #volcano #still-dangerous ⁦@uwiseismic⁩ pic.twitter.com/tvE1NZF6mC
— <PERSON> (@VincieRichie) April 11, 2021
Ashfall in St. Vincent and the Grenadines today, mainly on the North Windward side of the island.#cdema #disastermanagement #disaster pic.twitter.com/JE0l4ieRfP
— CDEMA (@cdemacu) April 10, 2021
There have also been reports of large chunks of volcanic rock falling out of the sky:
Fresh scoria from #lasoufriere #svg collected at #rabaccariver ~7.4km from #volcano ⁦@uwiseismic⁩ pic.twitter.com/5qu3T6SP6O
— <PERSON> (@VincieRichie) April 11, 2021
The continuing eruptions have caused anxiety among the population, with rumblings being heard as far away as the capital, Kingstown, to the south of the island:
Just got out the red zone. It’s crazy. 709
I heard the rumblings of #LaSoufriere pic.twitter.com/OGLiR3nuU7
— <PERSON> ?? (@Lavern_King) April 10, 2021
One explosion, in particular, was accompanied by lighting, which interrupted the island's electricity supply:
The most recent explosion at ~05:00 UTC looked stronger & generated significant lightning – seen here in #GOES16 IR data with GLM Energy Density. Per @NEMOSVG, this event seems to have caused an island-wide power outage (perhaps due to the lightning). https://t.co/w5ZapPzsNK pic.twitter.com/CT2tmsukyn
— <PERSON> (@simoncarn) April 11, 2021
Dr. <PERSON>, a member of the Seismic Research Centre at the University of the West Indies that has been monitoring La Soufrière, posted this video of ash falling like snow:
7am ash fall greetings while heading home after a night shift #LaSoufriere #svg #ash pic.twitter.com/kmfJWXbmgd
— <PERSON> ?????? (@soufriere_hills) April 11, 2021
There has been considerable damage to property, agriculture, livestock and wildlife, and people with asthma and other respiratory conditions are having difficulty with the air quality. There are also concerns about the integrity of the island's water supply.
On April 11, the island did experience some rainfall, but footage suggests it wasn't enough to make a difference to the volume of ash in the air. Moreover, when rainfall mixes with volcanic ash, it creates a heavy paste which netizens have been describing as “cement-like sludge”. There are currently over 3,000 displaced people being housed across 87 state-provided shelters.
On Twitter, many social media users shared before and after imagery:
Video on the left was taken by me on February 17th 2021.
Video on the right was taken this morning April 10th 2021. ?#LaSoufrière #Volcano #Eruption #StVincent #VolcanicEruption #Explosion #AshFall pic.twitter. 709