A case study of a volcanic eruption… SORT IT OUT!
CAUSE
Diagram….
Soufriere Hills
Eruptions began in 1995 for the first time in
300 years
June 1997
The Caribbean Plate
The North American plate(Atlantic Plate)
Destructive plate boundary
PRIMARY EFFECTS
SECONDARY EFFECTS
Montserrat Tourist Board advertises
volcano adventures and visits to the ‘modern
day Pompeii’
Fires destroyed local government offices
5000 left the island for Antigua or the UK
and police HQ
20 villages destroyed by pyroclastic flows
Tourists stayed away
Volcano tourism is being developed and
Communications broke down – port and
tourists are returning.
airport destroyed
UK provided £17m of emergency aid
Soil fertility has improved as the volcanic
ash added nutrients to the soil
People were evacuated to the north of the
A new town built at Little Bay in the North
Island
to replace Plymouth
The UK gave £41million to develop new
23 dead, 7 injured
docks and airport which opened in 2005
IMMEDIATE RESPONSES
LONG TERM RESPONSES
Vegetation and farmland destroyed
Plymouth was buried under 12 metres of
mud and ash
South of the island declared an exclusion
Schools and hospitals were destroyed
zone
Shelters had to built, even prison buildings
The Montserrat Volcano Observatory (MVO)
were used as temporary housing
set up to monitor volcano
Businesses such as rice processing and
electronics declined and the economy failed
The island's exports include sand and gravel,
bottled water, honey and soap products
manufactured as by products of the volcanic
eruption
Local police and rescue services searched
for survivors
Scientists from the USGS offered advice
and installed Seismic sensors around the
volcano to monitor it