Montserrat Volcano Case Study
MONTSERRAT CASE STUDY
Montserrat is an island in the Caribbean that was previously a British Colony. The island is approximately 16 km long and 11 km wide. Montserrat is nicknamed “The Emerald Isle of the Caribbean” due to its vast green forest that covers the majority of the island. The countries capital, Plymouth is on the South East coast with Soufriere Hills to the North West. The island has an estimated population of 5,189. Montserrat has a literacy rate of 97% for both men and women, and 14% of total population is urbanised. The GDP per capita is $8,500 and the major economic activities are tourism, rum production, textiles and manufacturing electronic appliances.
Montserrat is in a group of islands called the Leeward Islands, in the chain of the Lesser Antilles. An "exclusion zone" extending from the south coast of the island north to parts of the Belham Valley has been put in place because of the size of the existing volcanic dome and the potential pyroclastic activity. Visitors are generally not allowed into the exclusion zone, but an impressive view of the destruction of Plymouth can be seen from the top of Garibaldi Hill in Isles Bay.
The island is part of an Island Arc that lies across a destructive margin between the Caribbean plate and North American plate. Subduction of the Caribbean plate moving east, and the North American moving west cause friction in the subduction zone and this is what causing the volcano to be so active. The volcano was previously dormant for 300 years so the eruption came as a shock to everyone. The eruption was andesitic and very explosive, with lots of ash and lava being thrown into the air and lava covering parts of the island.
TIMELINE OF EVENTS
DATE
EVENTS
18th July 1995
Chances Peak volcano erupts for the first time in 350 years. 5000 people evacuated from the southern end after the volcano began spewing ash and rock.
April 1996
Britain announces that
Montserrat is an island in the Caribbean that was previously a British Colony. The island is approximately 16 km long and 11 km wide. Montserrat is nicknamed “The Emerald Isle of the Caribbean” due to its vast green forest that covers the majority of the island. The countries capital, Plymouth is on the South East coast with Soufriere Hills to the North West. The island has an estimated population of 5,189. Montserrat has a literacy rate of 97% for both men and women, and 14% of total population is urbanised. The GDP per capita is $8,500 and the major economic activities are tourism, rum production, textiles and manufacturing electronic appliances.
Montserrat is in a group of islands called the Leeward Islands, in the chain of the Lesser Antilles. An "exclusion zone" extending from the south coast of the island north to parts of the Belham Valley has been put in place because of the size of the existing volcanic dome and the potential pyroclastic activity. Visitors are generally not allowed into the exclusion zone, but an impressive view of the destruction of Plymouth can be seen from the top of Garibaldi Hill in Isles Bay.
The island is part of an Island Arc that lies across a destructive margin between the Caribbean plate and North American plate. Subduction of the Caribbean plate moving east, and the North American moving west cause friction in the subduction zone and this is what causing the volcano to be so active. The volcano was previously dormant for 300 years so the eruption came as a shock to everyone. The eruption was andesitic and very explosive, with lots of ash and lava being thrown into the air and lava covering parts of the island.
TIMELINE OF EVENTS
DATE
EVENTS
18th July 1995
Chances Peak volcano erupts for the first time in 350 years. 5000 people evacuated from the southern end after the volcano began spewing ash and rock.
April 1996
Britain announces that