MONTSERRAT VOLCANO LEAVES 19 KILLED By Emma Howlett, Year 8, Pankhurst 10 On 18 July 1995, the once dormant Soufriere Hills volcano erupted, with devastating effects. The government have had to make a large exclusion zone around the base of the vast volcano. Residents have been moved to either the ‘safe zone’ but many have decided to leave the country all together and come over to Britain. The entire capital city (Plymouth) has been destroyed by the deadly pyroclastic flows. These hot lava flows travel at roughly 700 km/h, destroying everything in its path. Homes have been destroyed, forcing people to flee their homes and move to the northern part of Montserrat. Montserrat is a small island in the Caribbean. Before the eruption there were over 12,000 people living there, but now that has reduced to under 5,000. As it is a British overseas territory, most people flew over to Britain to save themselves from the on-going eruptions. The cause of these eruptions are because of two plates beneath the Earth’s crust which collided, causing the volcano that was dormant for 300 years to finally come alive again.
One of the residents said “It all happened so suddenly. One minute I was looking out at the silent volcano, the next I was screaming with the sheer surprise of the molten rock coming so quickly towards me. I remember running out of my house, grabbing only the most important things before driving off as far away as I could.” The entire island is terrified to look out their windows, in case of another eruption and the government fear Plymouth will still be covered in ash in years to come. The airport was closed, so the only way to escape the island was by boat, which caused major disruption. Although 19 were killed, the government made the best decisions and kept the island safe. The people were only killed because they returned to Plymouth as they were dedicated farmers. Although this is all over now, the island is tense in the wait of the next eruption.