(Kingstown – NEWS784) – Volcanologist Dr Adam Stintion has dispelled rumors of an eruption taking place at La Soufriere on Tuesday night.
On NBC radio Wednesday morning, Stinton said the information regarding an eruption at the volcano was circulated via WhatsApp.
“I can categorically say there was no eruption at the volcano on Tuesday night,” Stinton said.
He noted that the volcano continues to be in a state of unrest with continuous steaming visible from the Belmont observatory.
Stinton says persistent steaming is often associated with volcanic activity either as a precursor or remnant after the main phase of activity.
The volcanologist indicated that it is possible that the steaming may go on for a while, and the team will have to be vigilant about it.
The UWI SRC monitoring the volcano on the island confirmed on Monday 17th, that thermal anomalies, indicating high temperatures inside the new crater, continue to be detected by the NASA FIRMS alert system.
On Tuesday, Dr Adam Stinton, a volcanologist at the Belmont observatory in St Vincent, said any high heat source would generate thermal anomaly.
“When the anomalies were first detected, it was due to lava reaching the surface; right now, these temperature anomalies may be related to a batch of magma that is sitting just below the surface of the summit crater, in the conduit which was created by the explosions back in April,” he said on Tuesday 18th May.
The volcano alert on the island remains at ORANGE.
