FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WFFT) — Two volcanoes in the Caribbean are showing seismic activity, after decades of being dormant.
In St. Vincent and the Grenadines, lava began spewing out of La Soufrière volcano on Dec. 29.
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The magma is forming a lava dome in La Soufrière's crater.
Via @NEMOSVG A view of the growing dome today - Sunday 3rd January, 2021
Photo credits: Jason Veira #LaSoufriere #Volcano #StVincentAndTheGrenadines pic.twitter.com/TxdvkZuNYU
— St. Vincent & the Grenadines 🇻🇨 (@StvincentGren) January 3, 2021
Gas and steam are also being released.
The release of lava, gas and steam has caused the northern end of the island where La Soufrière sits to raise its alert level to orange.
That means an eruption could occur with less than 24 hours' notice.
The growing lava dome in the crater of La Soufrière this morning. Aerial flight observations continue, when possible, over the crater to track changes to the growing dome.The volcano continues to be dangerous and the public is advised to avoid the area .#volcano #lasoufriere #svg pic.twitter.com/rnegGCoWXv
— UWISeismic Research (@uwiseismic) January 3, 2021
No evacuation has been ordered as of Tuesday morning.
Residents on the northern end of the island may smell a strong sulfur smell for several days or weeks, according to the Seismic Research Center.
The last time La Soufrière volcano erupted was in 1979, where 20,000 people were evacuated from the islands.
However, an eruption in 1902 killed over 1500 people.
The previous major eruption before that one was in 1812.
But that's not the only volcano with increased seismic activity in the Caribbean.
Mt. Pelée is also rumbling.
This volcano sits on the island of Martinique, which is about 100 miles north of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
The Martinique volcanological and seismological observatory officials raised the alert level on the yellow.
This volcano has had an increase in activity since April 2019.
But two tremors happening on Nov. 8 and 9, the officials recommended raising the level, which the government did.
It's the first time this kind of alert has been issued since the volcano last erupted.
#MARTINIQUE: A yellow alert was also raised for the island of Martinique, an overseas French territory, due to seismic activity under Mt. Pelee. pic.twitter.com/t97jCinMk9
— CaribbeanNewsNetwork (@caribbeannewsuk) January 1, 2021
That happened in 1932.
The previous eruption in 1902 killed almost 30,000 and destroyed Saint-Pierre.
117 years ago Mt. Pelée erupted, killing all but a handful of people in St. Pierre. This album hosted on Flickr shows many before and after shots. *warning - some photos show graphic dead people* https://t.co/5EGUQLZHok #MtPelée #Martinique #volcano #history pic.twitter.com/MWqvHRjfU6
— Jerry Fisher (@jerry7171) May 8, 2019
It's important to note that the activity with the two volcanoes is not related.
