Volcanic Eruption Case Study - Montserrat

Question 1

What is the nae of the volcano on Montserrat?

Answer 1

The Chances Peak Volcano (Soufriere Hills)

Question 2

Where is Montserrat?

Answer 2

In the Caribbean, close to the equator

Question 3

What type of plate margin was the volcano formed by?

Answer 3

Destructive, where the North America and Caribbean plats meet.

Question 4

When did the volcano erupt?

Answer 4

25th June 1997

Question 5

How many people had to leave the island?

Answer 5

Over 70% of the 11,000 residents

Question 6

What happened to many of the houses on Montserrat?

Answer 6

They were buried under 40ft of ash

Question 7

How many people died?

Answer 7

19

Question 8

How much of the island was placed in an ‘exclusion zone’?

Answer 8

Over half, including the capital city, Plymouth.

Question 9

How much of the island was left uninhabitable?

Answer 9

2/3

Question 10

What effect did pyroclastic flows have on the island?

Answer 10

They extended the coastline into the sea.

Question 11

What other natural hazards did the volcano emit?

Answer 11

Lahars (mud flows) and huge quantities of ash.

Question 12

How much material was released by the volcano?

Answer 12

4.5 million m2

Question 13

What happened to the capital city of Plymouth?

Answer 13

It was buried under 12m of mud and ash

Question 14

What happened to 2/3 of homes on the island?

Answer 14

They were destroyed by pyroclastic flows, along with 20 villages

Question 15

How were social facilities impacted?

Answer 15

Schools, hospitals, the airport and the port were all destroyed

Question 16

How were farmers affected?

Answer 16

Large areas of vegetation and farmland were destroyed

Question 17

How was the economy disrupted?

Answer 17

Tourists stayed away, and many businesses were destroyed, resulting in a loss of income

Question 18

What happened to the island’s population?

Answer 18

8000 of the island’s 12,000 residents have left since the eruptions began in 1995

Question 19

How has the volcano had an effect on tourism in recent years?

Answer 19

More tourists have been coming to see the volcano

Question 20

Which buildings were destroyed by secondary effect fires?

Answer 20

Government offices, the police headquarters and petrol stations

Question 21

How did the UK provide aid?

Answer 21

£17 million was provided in emergency aid, as Montserrat is an overseas territory

Question 22

How has the UK provided aid for development since the eruption?

Answer 22

£41 million was provded to develop the north of the island, new docks, and airport and houses have already been built

Question 23

How has the island worked to improve predictions of eruptions?

Answer 23

The Montserrat Volcano Observatory has been set up

Question 24

Why were farmers and remaining farmland put under stress?

Answer 24

They had to produce as much food as possible, because the airport and port had been destroyed