Residents at the base of Montserrat's
Soufriere Hills Volcano in the southern half of the island were
evacuated Jan. 3 as a lava dome threatened to crumble and send gas
and debris down the slopes, according to Associated Press reports.
Scientists at the
nearby Montserrat Volcano Observatory warned that some pyroclastic
flows already had been seen and could escalate. Residents and
visitors are asked to tune into ZJB Radio or
monitor the MVO Web site at www.mvo.ms for up-to-date information on the
volcano.
The volcano came
to life in 1995 and erupted in 1997, burying much of the southern
portion of the island, including the capital of
Plymouth.
Southern
Montserrat is now an exclusion zone where residences and businesses
are not permitted; the island's 5,000 permanent residents live in
the northern half.
To contact the reporter who wrote this article, send e-mail
to Gay Nagle Myers at [email protected].