LA SOUFRIÈRE BULLETIN THE AFTERMATH #01 JULY 5, 2021 8:00 PM

5^th July, 2021

LA SOUFRIÈRE BULLETIN THE AFTERMATH #01 JULY 5, 2021 8:00 PM  

1. Seismic activity at La Soufrière, St Vincent has remained low since the tremor associated with the explosion and ash venting on 22^ndApril, 2021.

2. Current activity at La Soufrière volcano is consistent with a period of unrest following eruptive magmatic activity.

3. Such periods of unrest after an eruption can continue for weeks to months.

4. There are ongoing hazards/dangers associated with the presence of hot, degassing, near surface magma at the summit. These include possible steam-blast eruption (phreatic explosions) in the summit crater as water interacts with hot rocks, along with ongoing lahars, which in some cases may be hot, on the lower flanks of the volcano.

5. There is also a small, but not insignificant, possibility that magmatic activity might restart with little warning, should there be an influx of new magma from depth.

6. In the last 24 hours, only a few small earthquakes have been recorded.

7. Persistent steam emissions from a few regions inside the crater continue to be the main observable feature.

8. Six (6) lahar signals were recorded by the monitoring network on 2^ndJuly, associated with heavy rainfall from the passage of Hurricane Elsa.

9. High temperatures inside the new crater continue to be detected by the NASA FIRMS alert system when cloud conditions permit.

10. These hot spots are zones of high temperatures likely indicating the presence of magmatic material near the surface inside the crater.

11. The communication network was affected by the passage of Hurricane Elsa; as a result only four seismic stations are currently being transmitted to Trinidad.

12. The Seismic station at Wallibou is currently not streaming data. The seismic station at Fitz Hughes is completed, but the data is not streaming to Seismic Research Centre (SRC) only to the Belmont Observatory.

13. Preparation for the installation of additional seismic stations at Greggs Mountain and Upper Waterloo continue, while the scientists are looking at the options for the restoration of the Owia station.

14. Preparations are ongoing for the completion of the station at the volcano on Wednesday 7^thJuly, which will be equipped with a seismometer, a continuous GPS receiver and a high-resolution bullet camera.

15. Total number of volcano emergency shelters opened - 48

16. Total number of volcano emergency shelters closed so far - 39

17. Total number of persons in volcano emergency shelters – 2, 022

18. Total number of persons who volunteered at the shelters – 1,701

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