The Soufriere Hills volcano is a composite volcano in Montserrat. Montserrat is above a destructive plate margin, where the North American Plate is being forced under the Caribbean plate. In 1995, earthquakes, small eruptions and lahars (mudflows of volcanic material mixed with water) started, these continued until 1997.
On 25th June 1997 there was a series of small earthquakes, which was then followed by pyroclastic flow (fast flowing streams of hot volcanic material and ash). After more earthquakes the main eruption happened. About 4-5 million m3 of material was released over a 20 minute period. Pyroclastic flows covered several square kilometres and reached within 50m of the airport, which was 5.5km north of the volcano. The eruption also produced a large ash cloud. There were further eruptions over the next few months and the airport was destroyed by a pyroclastic flow in 21st September 1997. Impacts:
Economic: 1) The total loss in value of peoples homes and investments was estimated to be about £1billion 2) Over 20 villages and two thirds of homes on the island were destroyed by pyroclastic flows 3) Tourists stayed away and businesses were destroyed, disrupting the economy. However, tourism on the island is now increasing as people come to see the volcano. 4) Schools hospitals, the airport and the port was destroyed Social Impacts: 1) 19 people died and seven were injured 2) Hundreds of people lost their homes 3) Fires destroyed many buildings, e.g. local government offices, the police headquarters and petrol stations 4) The population has declined - 8000 of the islands 12000 inhabitants have left since the eruption began in 1995. around 4000 of those came to the UK. Environmental: 1) Large areas were covered with volcanic material - the capital city Plymouth was buried under 12m of mud and ash 2) Vegetation and farmland were destroyed 3) Volcanic ash from the eruption has improved soil fertility |
Response:
1) People were evacuated from the south to safe areas in the north. The first evacuations took place in 1995 2) Shelters were built to house evacuees 3) Temporary infrastructure was also built, e.g. roads and electricity supplies 4) The UK provided £17million of emergency aid (Montserrat's an overseas territory of the UK) 5) Local emergency services provided support units to search for and rescue survivors 6) A risk map was created and an exclusion zone is in place. The south of the island is off limits while the volcano is stil intermittently active 7) The UK has provided £41 million of long term aid to develop the north of the island - new docks, an airport and houses have been built with this. 8) The Montserrat Volcano Observatory has been set up to try and predict future eruptions. Little Management:
1) Scientists had studied the volcano in the 1980s but their report wasn't given a lot of attention 2) There was no disaster management plan for a volcano eruption. So when the volcano started erupting the response time was very slow. 3) Also, in the 1990s key infrastructure had been built in areas at risk, so when the volcano erupted it was all destroyed- this further hampered the response. |