St Vincent and the Grenadines: NEMO alerts of rising temperature from La Soufriere volcano

The island nation of St Vincent and the Grenadines is on high alert due to the chances of another volcano eruption at the La Soufriere Volcanic area. The emergency management authority, known as NEMO, released a warning notification for the citizens.

The notification was released by the NEMO officials for the locals of St Vincent Island after recording the temperature of the La Soufriere volcano. The temptation was noted at the rise and was stated at the level of danger, which was marked as a possibility of explosion.

La Soufriere is an active volcano and also the highest peak on the island, which erupted around eight times since 1718. The last eruption of the volcano was recorded in 2021, which affected more than twenty thousand individuals around the area.

The volcanic activity not just ended up destroying several homes but also affected the quality of the land and soil. The damage caused due to the last volcanic eruption was calculated to be around eighty-six million dollars.

By keeping the condition of the most recent destruction, the authorities raised an alert for the public and asked them to stay away from the La Soufriere. The unusual thing is noted in the volcanic activity of the specific volcano, as it shows the possibility of eruption within four years of last eruption.

The difference between the last two volcanic eruptions was around forty-one years. Before 2021, the previous eruption was recorded in 1979. The recent change in the behaviour of the volcano was first detected at the weekend, and the authorities are taking crucial steps to avoid the damage.

The island of St Vincent and its people suffered a lot from the volcanic eruption of La Soufriere in the past. The most recent destruction in 2021 came with many challenges for the nation and government, and they struggled to recover from the impact.

The northern districts were affected most by the eruption, and the region was covered with ash plums. The air was polluted, and the ash was over the head seven miles in the air. The aviation sector was also affected by the eruption, and the routes were diverted at that time.

NEMO released the statement and said, “Potential scenarios associated with the detection of the thermal anomaly include a sulphur fire in the crater, a small phreatic eruption that may have exposed hot underlying rocks or the start of new extrusion of lava in the crater.”

The authority added, “According to information received from the Seismic Research Centre, at 02:38 PM on Monday, a low thermal anomaly was detected at the summit of the La Soufriere Volcano by the NASA FIRMS hot spot detection system on Sunday, 06 October 2024.”

NEMO  also stated, “The updates will be given following the analysis of the multigas data and the conclusions from the visual observations.” The authority also restricted unauthorised visits of the commons to the summit till the next update.

However, the alert level is still under the green zone, but the authority is not taking any chance and consistently tacking the situation as the temperature is on the rise again. The situation can not be taken lightly as the destruction can be as severe as in 1902 when 1,680 people were killed in the La Soufriere volcanic eruption.