La Soufriere: 30 identifiable explosions, 9 large ones reported

By Demion McTair. Updated 4:07 p.m., Monday, April 19, 2021, Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-4).

There have been at least 30 identifiable explosive events since the start of the eruptive phase of the La Soufriere volcano on April 9, the Seismic Research Center of the University of the West Indies (UWISRC) said on Sunday.

Of the thirty explosive events, however, only the nine large ones which sent ash plumes high in the sky were reported by UWISRC and the National Emergency Management Organization – NEMO on their social media pages.

In a previous post where One News St. Vincent highlighted eight large explosive events, we wrote: “This list is to be taken as a preliminary timeline of the eruptive record of the volcano during this period, as these are eruptions that were reported on the social media pages of UWISRC and NEMO. Official data on eruptive records can only come from the experts gathering data on the eruptive activities at the volcano”.

There is now a total of nine large eruptions/explosions.

Here are the nine (9) reported explosive eruptions so far of the current 2021 eruption cycle of the La Soufriere volcano:

First explosive eruption: Friday, April 9, 2021, at 8:41 a.m. Atlantic Standard Time (AST). Source: UWISRC.

Second explosive eruption: Friday, April 9, 2021, at 2:45 p.m., AST. Source: UWISRC.

Third Explosive eruption: Friday, April 9, 2021, at 6:35 p.m., AST. Source: UWISRC.

Fourth explosive eruption: Monday, April, 12, 2021, at 4:15 a.m., AST. Source: UWISRC.

Fifth explosive eruption: Tuesday, April 13, 2021, at 6:30 a.m., AST. Source: UWISRC.

Sixth explosive eruption: Tuesday, April 13, 2021, at 11:00 p.m., AST. Source: UWISRC.

Seventh explosive eruption: Wednesday, April 14, 2021, reported at 11:19 a.m., by NEMO.

Eight explosive eruption: Friday, April 16, 2021, at 6:15 a.m., AST. Source: UWISRC.

Ninth explosive eruption: Sunday, April 18, 2021, at 4:49 p.m., AST. Source: NEMO.

Experts have hypothesized that the volcano might be losing strength as the most recent eruptions have not been as energetic as the earlier ones which began on April 9.

They have cautioned, however, that the volcano is unpredictable and could still produce dangerous explosive activities.