Soufrière Hills Montserrat (volcano)

Question 0

Cause of eruption?

Answer 0

Destructive plate margin, Atlantic plate forced under Caribbean plate

Question 1

Date of the eruption?
Size of eruption?
Death toll?

Answer 1

June 25th 1997
Large 4-5 million metres cubed of rock and gas
19 killed

Question 2

Primary impacts

Remember 5 points.

Answer 2

Large areas were covered with volcanic material- capital “Plymouth” buried under 12m of mud and ash.
20 villages destroyed by super heated GED and ash.
Schools, Hospitals, Airports and ports were destroyed.
Vegetation and farm land destroyed.
19 died 7 injured.

Question 3

Secondary impacts

Remember 5 points

Answer 3

Fires destroyed government office, police HQ and petrol stations.
Tourists stayed away this disrupted the economy.
Population declined- 8000 of 12000 have left since the eruption.
Volcanic ash has improved soil fertility.
Tourism increasing to see the volcano.

Question 4

Immediate responses

Remember 5 points

Answer 4

People were evacuated from the south to the north.
Shelters were built.
Temporary infrastructure e.g. Roads and electricity supplies.
The UK provided 17 million of emergency aid.
Local emergency service provided support for search and rescue for survivors.

Question 5

Long term responses

Remember 3 points

Answer 5

Risk map was created and exclusion zone in place, the south part of the island is off limits while volcano is still active.
UK provided 41million to develop north of the country the island- docks, Airports and Houses.
Montserrat volcano observatory to help predict future eruptions.