People who ignored the authorities’ initial announcement to leave the area closest to a volcano on the Caribbean island of San Vicente fled in a hurry on Saturday, a day after the La Soufriere volcano erupted. earth, threw clouds of ash and covered the island with a layer of fine volcanic rock.
Friday’s eruption, the first of any major magnitude since 1979, turned the island’s villages and towns into sad and gray versions of them. A strong smell of sulfur was inevitable on Saturday and the ash covered almost everything, penetrating houses, cars and even the nose, hiding the sunlight that makes this island so popular with tourists.
Chellise Rogers, who lives in the village of Biabou, in the San Vicente area, which is considered safe, said she heard a continuous roar.
“It’s exciting and scary at the same time,” he said. “(It’s) the first time I’ve seen a volcanic eruption.”
Scientists warn that the explosions could continue for days or even weeks and that the worst is yet to come.
“The first explosion is not necessarily the largest this volcano will cause,” Richard Robertson, a geologist at the Center for Seismic Research at the University of the West Indies, told a news conference.
About 16,000 people were forced to flee the ash-covered communities, with nothing but personal belongings they could pack in suitcases and backpacks. However, so far there are no reports of deaths or injuries due to the initial or subsequent explosion. Prior to the eruption, the government ordered the population to clear the highest-risk area around the 1,220-meter-high volcano, after scientists warned that magma was approaching the surface.
Ralph Gonsalves, the prime minister of the 32 islands that make up Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, said in an interview with NBC Radio, a local radio station, that the population should remain calm, patient and try to protect themselves. of coronavirus. He added that authorities are trying to determine how to collect and dispose of the ash, which covered an airport runway near the capital, Kingstown, about 32 kilometers south and even spread in Barbados, about 190 kilometers (120 miles). to the east.
“Agriculture will be badly affected, we could lose some animals and we will have to make repairs to our houses, but if we have life and strength, we can rebuild better, stronger and together,” the prime minister said.
People who chose to stay in the area after the initial evacuation rushed to do so on Saturday. A small number of people covered in ash left the area aboard small boats and headed for parts of the island, which account for about 90% of the country’s total territory.
The nations of Antigua and Guyana have offered to either send emergency supplies to their neighbors or temporarily open their borders to people who have been forced to flee the area near the volcano.
The volcano, which last erupted in 1979, continued to erupt as experts warned that explosive eruptions could continue for days and possibly weeks. About 1,600 people died in the 1902 census.
Gonsalves said that depending on the damage caused by the explosion, it could take up to four months to return to normal. As of Friday, 2,000 people were staying in 62 government shelters, while four empty cruise ships anchored nearby were waiting to transfer other evacuated people to nearby islands. Those in government accommodation have been tested for coronavirus and anyone who passes a positive test will be transferred to an isolation center.
The first explosion occurred on Friday morning, a day after the government ordered a mandatory evacuation based on warnings from scientists, who detected seismic activity before dawn on Thursday, which meant that magma was approaching the surface. The eruption threw a column of ash more than seven kilometers (33,000 feet) high, with lightning overtaking the huge cloud of smoke late Friday.
Volcanic activity forced the cancellation of several flights and the ash limited evacuations in some areas due to poor visibility. Authorities have warned that Barbados, Saint Lucia and Grenada could receive a light ash shower, while the 1,220-meter (4,003-foot) volcano continues to roar. Most of the ash is expected to move northeast to the Atlantic Ocean.
La Soufriere already had an effusive eruption in December, prompting experts in the region to travel to the island to discuss the formation of a new volcanic dome and changes in its crater lake, among other things.
There are 19 active volcanoes in the eastern Caribbean, including two submarines off the island of Grenada. One of them, Kick ‘Em Jenny, has been active in recent years. The most active is Montserrat’s Soufriere Hill, which has been constantly erupting since 1995, devastating the capital, Plymouth, and killing at least 19 people in 1997.