Monserrat volcanic eruption 1997

Question 1

Where is Montserrat located?

Answer 1

East- Southeast of Puerto Rico and Southwest of Antigua

Question 2

What date did the eruption occur?

Answer 2

25th June 1997 at 1pm

Question 3

What areas were effected?

Answer 3

The south of Montserrat and Plymouth

Question 4

What was the VEI

Answer 4

3-4

Question 5

Volcanic shape?

Answer 5

Stratovolcano

Question 6

Eruptive history?

Answer 6

The Soufriere hills volcano began its eruption on the 18th July 1995

Question 7

What’s the climate like?

Answer 7

Tropical and mild all year round

Question 8

What’s the landscape like?

Answer 8

Rugged and volcanic, mountainous

Question 9

What are the Soufriere hills?

Answer 9

An active complex stratovolcano, became active in 1995 and continued to erupt ever since

Question 10

What type of plate boundary is there?

Answer 10

Destructive plate boundary, Caribbean and Atlantic plates move together causing a subduction zone.

Question 11

How many houses were destroyed?

Answer 11

100-150 (buried in debris from pyroclastic flow or set alight due to intense heat

Question 12

How many people were killed?

Answer 12

19 (in inclusion zones)

Question 13

How much of the population were evacuated to the North of the island and put into temporary housing?

Answer 13

50%

Question 14

How many injuries were there?

Answer 14

7

Question 15

What were common injuries?

Answer 15

Breathing problems and burns to the nostrils and mouth

Question 16

We’re there pyroclastic flows?

Answer 16

Yes incredibly large pyroclastic flows

Question 17

What area was abandoned?

Answer 17

Plymouth the official capital

Question 18

What was visibility like?

Answer 18

Ash was so thick it was impossible to see the road which was a hazard to the search and rescue team

Question 19

What happened to aluminium window shutters?

Answer 19

They were melted and twisted

Question 20

What happened to food availability long term?

Answer 20

Food shortages across the island

Question 21

How long did it take for the island population to decrease by 3000

Answer 21

By february 1996

Question 22

What happened to vegetable beds?

Answer 22

The soil was baked hard and we’re bare of plants

Question 23

How much did it cost the british government?

Answer 23

£56 million

Question 24

How many evacuees moved into temporary housing in the north?

Answer 24

1366

Question 25

What went into place to help people’s safety from dangerous areas?

Answer 25

Exclusion

Question 26

How were gas emissions measured after the event?

Answer 26

Using a spectrometer

Question 27

We’re there helicopter search and rescue?

Answer 27

Yes for survivors in the spanish point area

Question 28

What did charities send?

Answer 28

Emergency food for farm animals

Question 29

How much money did the UK government send in emergency aid?

Answer 29

£17 million

Question 30

What is being put in place instead of Plymouth?

Answer 30

Little bay a new town is being constructed as the new capital

Question 31

How much money went toward accommodating 1000 people in the north?

Answer 31

£6.5 million

Question 32

What is the economy like in Montserrat?

Answer 32

Effectively haltered and hasn’t fully recovered

Question 33

What programme did the UK fund?

Answer 33

A crisis programme of action

Question 34

What did red cross fund?

Answer 34

Set up temporary schools

Question 35

What happened by 2005?

Answer 35

The south of the Island still remained out of bounds

Question 36

What did red cross do for the elderly?

Answer 36

Built a home for the elderly

Question 37

The Uk government funded a 3 year re development programme, what did this entail?

Answer 37

Houses, schools, medical services, infrastructure, agriculture, and mortgages to start businesses- Cost £122.8 million

Question 38

What was the level of development like?

Answer 38

A small island in the developing state

Question 39

What’s the island vulnerable to?

Answer 39

Impacts of climate change and volcanic eruption in the Soufriere hills

Question 40

What is still a problem in Montserrat?

Answer 40

Small aging population as the only people that stayed were elderly, damage to infrastructure, and inadequate housing

Question 41

What was the population like?

Answer 41

Small population of 5,900 people estimated in 2008

Question 42

How prepared was the island?

Answer 42

Evacuation of high risk areas took place in 5 minutes as the island is used to frequent eruption

Question 43

Since when was the volcano a threat?

Answer 43

Eruption started in 1995 and the volcano has been active ever since

Question 44

What type of lava was there?

Answer 44

Andesitic magma, thick lava flows with 15-20% silica, making the lava viscous and the eruption explosive

Question 45

How did GPS help with preparation?

Answer 45

Measured ground deformation

Question 46

What does the MVO do? (Montserrat volcano observatory)

Answer 46

Plays a key role in monitoring the volcano