Scientists offer look into life as Caribbean volcano erupted
by Dánica Coto, The Associated Press
Posted May 12, 2021 10:11 am EDT
Last Updated May 12, 2021 at 10:14 am EDT
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) The three scientists credited with helping save lives ahead of a recent explosive volcano eruption in the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent are known to locals simply as Richie, Rod and TC.
The team huddled indoors for weeks on little sleep to study and alert the government about activity at La Soufrière, whose eruptions last month displaced nearly 20% of the population and prompted the United Nations to seek $29 million to help the island recover from the devastation.
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Dr. Thomas Christopher and Professor Richard Robertson have weighed in on the topic of Lahar or mud flows
Lead Scientist for the La Soufriere Monitoring Team, Dr. Thomas Christopher has advised that there be closer monitoring of construction of residential and other structures in areas close to La Soufriere Volcano, to mitigate the impact of lahars or mud flows.
Dr. Christopher was speaking on NBC’s Eyeing La Soufriere morning edition on Friday.
Meanwhile, Geologist, Professor Richard Robertson has suggested that a special public education programme be formulated, to enlighten persons on the dangers of lahars.
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Red zone still restricted even with lower alert level
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While the go ahead has been given to residents of communities in the Orange zone to return home, access to the Red zone remains restricted due to the dangerous threat of lahars.
Because this threat may continue for some time, scientists have advised that certain measures be put in place to safeguard lives, livelihoods and property of persons who occupy the Red zone.
“The best protection is to stay out of the valleys, don’t put any kind of major assets in it because of the fact that, in the case of St Vincent, it’s going to happen so fast that it’s difficult to provide a warning,” geologist, Professor Richard Robertson said on Wednesday during VC3’s Round Table Talk programme.
La Soufriere alert level moves down to orange
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The decision on May 5 to move the alert level for La Soufriere from red to orange was made after discussion and consultation about monitoring techniques, data, and the current state of the volcano.
Volcano-seismologist Roderick Stewart of the University of the West Indies (UWI)-Seismic Research Centre (SRC), who was a guest on the Round Table Talk programme on VC3 on Wednesday said that the main reason the alert level was lowered is that the volcano has been quiet since its last eruption on April 22, in that very little seismic activity has been picked up. This is different to the period, between April 9 and 22, when the volcano had over 30 explosions.