By Admin. Updated 6:16 p.m., Monday, April 5, 2021, Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-4).
An average of 50 earthquakes per hour was recorded today at the La Soufriere volcano in a new swarm of volcano-tectonic (VT) earthquakes.
According to a bulletin from the National Emergency Management Organization – NEMO, Today’s swarm of Volcano-Tectonic earthquakes was also much more intense compared to those which occurred during the period March 23-25 and contained many more small earthquakes, with an average rate of about 50 earthquakes per hour compared with 1.5 per hour in March.
The new swarm of Volcano-Tectonic (VT) earthquakes which began at the La Soufrière Volcano at 6:38 am today continued at a fairly constant rate before starting to decline at about 2:00 p.m. Activities declined significantly at 4:00 p.m. although small Volcano-Tectonic earthquakes were still being recorded, NEMO said in a bulletin.
The largest Volcano-Tectonic earthquake was recorded at 2:16 pm today, with a magnitude of 3.9. There were nine more Volcano-Tectonic earthquakes in the swarm with magnitudes of 3.0 or more, NEMO said.
NEMO said the current swarm of Volcano-Tectonic earthquakes has been located at a depth about 6 km below the summit of the La Soufrière Volcano. This is slightly deeper than those recorded between March 23 and 25, 2021 which were located at depths from 3 to 5 km below the summit. (Earlier estimates of these swarms were revised from 10 km to 3 to 5 km).
There several reports of earthquakes being felt today in communities close to the La Soufrière Volcano such as Fancy and Chateaubelair.
The alert level remains at Orange. The National Emergency Management Organisation is reminding the public that no evacuation order or notice has been issued.
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