July 18, 1995 CE – Soufriere Hills Erupts on Montserrat

457

*Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons The tiny Caribbean island of Montserrat, known for very little in its location at the center of the Lesser Antilles, exploded into a vast plume of sulfuric smoke on July 18, 1995 – an eruption that has continued with little in the way of relief since. Once a haven for British and American recording artists hoping to have a working vacation, some two-thirds of the island’s population has now moved elsewhere. Soufriere Hills had experienced extensive seismic activity periodically over the previous century, with three separate eruptions roughly thirty years apart since 1897. When the eruption occurred on July 18th, it was the first in well over a hundred years, leaving the local government totally unprepared. Once known as the Emerald Isle of the Caribbean – both for its resemblance to Ireland and large Irish immigrant population – approximately half of the island is no longer inhabitable. The capital, Plymouth, was evacuated soon after the eruption began, with much of the government being moved to Brades on the northern side of the island in the days that followed. Fortunately, the worst of the activity would not occur for several weeks, allowing the country’s 10,000-plus residents to join the administration there or somewhere else altogether. On August 21st, Soufriere Hills erupted violently, covering much of the southern half of Montserrat in pyroclastic flows and thick ash. The island would remain divided into an exclusion zone which no one is permitted to enter and an area where life has carried on in a relatively normal fashion since. Montserrat continued to experience earthquakes as Soufriere Hills settled down somewhat over the next two years, only to have a large eruption on June 27, 1997 kill 19 people and incinerate the island’s airport – killing what little tourist industry remained. In the aftermath, authorities discovered Plymouth and much of the surrounding towns were under several feet of ash and debris. Eruptions continue to this day, with the remaining population working hard to help Montserrat come back from this latest setback due to Mother Nature. Having just begun to have visitors after Hurricane Hugo in 1989, the eruption of Soufriere Hills left many wondering if tourism would ever be a viable industry again. Despite reservations, daily flights from Antigua continue. It seems the disaster is just what many wish to see.