Montserrat Volcano 2

Where is Montserrat and what is its tectonic setting?

• Is a Caribbean island in the Lesser Antilles.

• Destructive plate boundary.

• Soufriere Hills in the south.

Why was Montserrat particularly vulnerable?

• A small island with limited space to relocate.

• Major settlements and infrastructure concentrated in the south.

• Plymouth was the capital.

What was the most deadly event?

• 25 June 1997.

• Pyroclastic flows.

• 19 people killed.

• Most devastating event of the eruption.

What happened to Plymouth?

• Capital devastated by volcanic activity.

• Became part of the exclusion zone.

• Services/infrastructure had to be relocated north.

What were the social impacts?

• Large scale evacuation and displacement.

• Many people emigrated.

• Population became concentrated in the north.

How was immediate risk managed?

• People evacuated.

• Southern exclusion zone established.

• Volcano continuously monitored.

• Hazard maps identified areas of danger.

How did monitoring reduce vulnerability?

• Identified changing levels of volcanic risk.

• Helped authorities decide where/when to evacuate.

• Couldn’t prevent eruption, but reduced exposure.

What problems did relocation create?

• Increased pressure on the north.

• Demand for housing and services increased.

• Infrastructure had to support displaced people.

How did Montserrat adapt and recover?

• Development of Little Bay Port.

• New/improved hospital and water supplies.

• Infrastructure developed in safer areas.

• Tourism supported recovery.

How effective was the overall response?

Monitoring and exclusion zones reduced exposure, and people relocated to safer areas.

But the volcano remained a long term threat, plymouth/South remained unsafe and led to major population loss and long-termdisruption.