Today, April 9, 2023, marks the second anniversary of the La Soufriere 2021 volcanic eruption on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent (SVG).
After 40 years of low activity, La Soufriere, St. Vincent, began to erupt effusively in December 2020, eventually culminating in an explosive event that started on April 9, 2021, and led to the evacuation of at least 20,000 people.
At 8:41 a.m. on April 9, 2021, there was an explosive eruption that sent an ash plume about 10,000 m (32,000 ft) high and moving east toward the Atlantic Ocean.
Approximately 20,000 people were told to evacuate the area surrounding the volcano. A warning stated that the eruption was “likely to continue for days and possibly weeks”. Another explosive eruption, created by multiple pulses of ash, was reported that afternoon.
The University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre (SRC) said that a third explosive eruption started at 6:45 p.m. on April 9 and lasted for about 15 minutes.
Another explosive event occurred on April 11, 2021. Prime Minister Gonsalves reported that water could no longer be supplied to most of the island and that the local airspace had been closed due to pollution in the air.
The Barbados Defense Force was sent to the island to help people in need and respond to the disaster.The International Volcanic Health Hazard Network warned that the ash is a “nuisance” to healthy people, but the ash and sulfur dioxide gas “could affect asthmatics and others with chronic health conditions.”
On April 12, it was stated that the volcano erupted again that morning and “continued to erupt explosively,” generating pyroclastic flows.
According to the SRC, “it’s destroying everything in its path.” Richard Robertson of the SRC said that both the old and new domes had been destroyed and that “a new crater has been created.”
A late afternoon report on April 12 stated that “power and water supply were intermittent in some communities.”
The northern half of the island was most significantly affected. By 12 April, 20,000 residents had evacuated the areas around their homes; the PM pleaded with residents who had refused to leave: “It’s past the hour to get out”.
Some 3,200 people were living in government shelters.
The ash also made its way to Barbados, which is about 120 miles east of St. Vincent.
Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley stated that Barbados needed to prepare for weeks of falling ash.
Significant amounts of ash were on the roads in Barbados by the afternoon of April 11, and a local road safety association urged drivers to use “extreme caution” while driving because the roads were “very hazardous.”
Barbados’s Grantley Adams International Airport remained closed. The Seismic Research Centre stated on April 13 that Barbados would continue to be affected by ash fall “for days”, and in a worst-case scenario, for “weeks”.
The sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions from the volcanic eruption reached India on April 16, 2021, sparking fears of increased pollution levels in the northern parts of the country and acid rain.
Eruptions ended on April 22 after four months of activity.
