Montserrat Case study

Question 1

What is the history of Monserrat’s eruptions?

Answer 1

• The Soufrière hills volcano had been dormant for years
• Suddenly started erupting in 1995
• Over next two years, there was a series of small eruptions
• Large eruption in 1997 killing 19 people

Question 2

What were the effect of the first eruption (1995)

Answer 2

Smothered Plymouth (Montserrat’s capital) in dense ash clouds

-Big eruption (1997) sent pyroclastic flows down the sides of the Soufrière hills at 130km/h

Question 3

What are the features of Pyroclastic flows?

Answer 3

-mixture of volcanic fragments,ash,mud and toxic gases

Temperature at 500 C

Question 4

What are the effects of the big eruption (1997)

Answer 4

• Big eruption (1997) sent pyroclastic flows down the sides of the Soufrière hills at 130km/h
• More than half of Monsserat became uninhabitable
• infrastructure (i.e. Airports and ports would be blocked)