Authorities have issued an alert for residents in St Vincent and the Grenadines after the La Soufriere volcano became active on Tuesday, December 29.
St Vincent and the Grenadines is a nation comprising of the main island and a chain of smaller islands in the Southern Caribbean.
The summit of La Soufriere
Residents were warned to be alert and ready to evacuate, should the volcano start to erupt. According to South China Morning Post, the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency said that scientists observed an ‘effusive eruption within the crater, with visible gas and steam’ from the volcano.
La Soufriere last erupted in 1979, but there were no casualties reported thanks to an early evacuation warning by authorities.
Scientists are doing considerable research on volcanic activity in the area but according to volcanologist Erik Klemetti at Denison University in Ohio, there is still much to learn.
‘The answers are not entirely satisfying. It’s science that’s still being researched,’ he told The Guardian.
Picture: Wikimedia Commons
