THE National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO) says it has knowledge of and is monitoring the activity at the La Soufriere Volcano in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines which this week was said to have had an “effusive emission of magma, with steam, oozing out of it.”
NEMO said it is in dialogue with the UWI Seismic Research Centre, Trinidad and Tobago, and that as the situation unfolds it will provide updates and advisories to the public.
The Centre, in collaboration with Vincentian authorities, is monitoring the situation and is set to brief the region and Vincentians with any updates.
Meanwhile Vincentians have been advised not to visit the volcano but wait for updates on its activity.
Reports coming out of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines note that magma is coming out of the earth, building a dome on the side of an existing dome to the western side of the volcano, and that more data would be needed to determine whether the activity could transition into an explosive eruption.
The Government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has ramped up the alert level for La Soufriere Volcano to orange because of the elevated heat and gas, and has warned residents in communities close to the volcano to be on the alert, as they could be ordered to evacuate should there be scientific evidence that an explosion is likely to happen.