Column: Volcanic eruptions wreak havoc on Caribbean island
“St. Vincent and the Grenadines” sure sounds like a happy family place where one can enjoy a relaxed vacation. A little over a week ago, major unhappiness came to this small Caribbean nation. With a land area of 133 square miles, the main island, St. Vincent is smaller than Cumberland Island on the Georgia coast. On the morning of April 9, its roughly 101,000 residents were alarmed by the start of a series of volcanic eruptions. La Soufrière is an active volcano, classified by geologists as the andesitic type. That marks it as a dangerous one, comparable to Mt. St.Helens in the U.S. state of Washington. La Soufrière isn’t as tall as Mt. St. Helens, measuring 400 feet less than Blood Mountain near Blairsville. But andesitic volcanoes, also known as stratovolcanoes, have some unpleasant characteristics compared to the ones tourists like to visit on Hawaii. A stratovolcano has a sandwich-like structure,
caller: we re holding up good. i m with 11 people that have been displaced and are homeless and workless right now that were also working on my farm. and it s been a real shocker. the last day we were there, you know, just thursday, we were making a good-bye dinner for one of our friends. we were making the dinner, about to enjoy the dinner, and the cops tell us we have to go. everything changed in a instant. we have five minutes to pack what you think you ll need. i was in the supermarket, one of the scariest places to be. glass feeling, things falling off the shows, yankees going crazy. last everybody s going crazy. lasted about 10, 15 seconds. i became hyper aware of the situation. where he lives, the leilani subdivision, is at the center of most of the destruction.
the fire is the result of 35 earthquakes in 24 hours in hawaii 350 earthquakes in 24 hours in hawaii. the roads completely blocked off by a river of lava. people on hawaii s big island are trying to stay out of the way ads lava seems to be destroy ing everything it comes near. and earthquakes making trouble, opening cracks in the roads for the lava to fill. and friday s 6.9-magnitude earthquake could be felt on another island more than 200 miles away. a woman said when it was happening, she couldn t believe it and how this was sinking in. still traumatic for the people in hawaii. the big island under a state of emergency. and thousands of people have had to leave their homes. many say they are not receiving any updates on their homes or when it will be safe to return. cnn spoke to a man who lives on the farm in the leilani area. watch.
planning actively for every contingency that we can think of. the leilani subdivision is most at risk here. the large cracks that haven onned up are in this one that have opened up are in this one neighborhood, and they re releasing more of that lava. meteorologist allison chinchar with more. the pictures alone are unbelievable. there s a bigger threat right now than the lava. what is it? you think lava, what could possibly be worse of a threat than that. it s the one that you can t see. and that s that sulfur dioxide gas that they talk about. it does have a very atrocious, strong smell. you will at least be able to smell it. but you can t see it. and that s the problem. even in low doses, it can cause breathing problems. but in those high doses which, yes, they are measuring, it can be fatal. and so that s one of the big concerns. the other concern, these earthquakes are expected to continue. those toxic fumes will continue as more of the fissures or
everybody is going crazy. and it last aid good 10, 15 seconds. you just become hyper aware of the situation. that leilani subdivision is at the center of the destruction. more cracks have opened up, releasing more lava. there s an even bigger threat on the horizon. alison chinchar is in the cnn weather center with more. this is one we can t capture on video. no, you can t. you can t see t you supposedly can smell it. it has a very pungent smell to it. that s the only warning you get from this. sulfur dioxide, one of the gases released in the cracks we talked about, along with the lava. if you ve never had any history of breathing problems, in low doses suchlt lfur dioxide can trigger breathing problems and in high doses it can be fatal, just one of the reasons they ve put evacuations in place.