St Vincent endured another night of explosions, ash falls and earthquakes, when the eruption of La Soufriere volcano entered its fourth day.
The latest explosion occurred today at 4:15 a.m. with a pyroclastic current on the flanks of the volcano.
Earlier, dr. Erouscilla Joseph, director of the UWI’s seismic research center, said that if from 20:00 to Sunday, if still flowed, with sometimes volcanic tectonic tremor.
These types of tremors are associated with magma forcing throughout the rock.
She said there were no confirmed pyroclastic density currents (pyroclastic flow) on Sunday.
It is superheated, breathable flow of ash and debris can move at a speed of hundreds of meters per second, reaching many to hundreds of kilometers of origin, and can travel at a speed of more than 80 kilometers per hour.
Joseph said observers reported a lahar on Rabacca Dry River on the outskirts of Georgetown, a Red Zone community.
Asphalt is the most drastic and pervasive volcanic hazard, and the impact can linger for years to come. Photo credit: Prof Robertson, UWI-SRC.
According to her, this probably happened when there was rainfall on the volcano’s crest.
A lahar consists of a mixture of pyroclastic material, rocky debris and water, and in 1979 this violent mudslide devastated some areas on the foothills of La Soufriere.
More than 16,000 residents of the country have moved from the Red Zone since last Monday when the government ordered a mandatory evacuation.
And more fled Sunday, as explosions continued and fears grew about the potentially catastrophic pyroclastic flow similar to the La Soufriere eruption of 1902 when more than 1,600 died.
Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonzalves said no deaths or serious injuries were reported this morning, but that some people would still leave the Red Zone and prefer to stay behind to care for crops and livestock.
Pyroclastic flow contains a high density mixture of hot lava blocks, pumice, ash and volcanic gas. They move at very high speeds down volcanic slopes and usually follow valleys.
With rock fragments ranging from ash to rocks moving across the ground at a speed usually exceeding 80 km per hour, pyroclastic currents drop almost all objects and structures in their path, flat, crushed or carried away. The extreme temperatures of rocks and gas in pyroclastic currents, between 200 ° C and 700 ° C, can cause fires to flare up.
Nothing can survive.