Montserrat Volcano Observatory


Morning Report
Report for the period 16:00 2 December
to 07:00 3 January 1997
The current alert level is ORANGE


Rockfall activity continued overnight and has now been at a relatively high level for over 24 hours. The bands of seismic tremor have stopped and there are relatively few hybrid earthquakes.

Visibility is poor this morning, with the crater area covered by clouds.

The spurt of dome growth which started on Christmas Day continues, and the rockfalls are caused by unstable areas on this dome. Areas outside of the Tar River valley are not threatened by this activity although anywhere downwind of the volcano will be affected by light ashfall. However,a rapid escalation in activity is possible and everyone should remain vigilant and follow the alert procedures. There is no access to zone A/B and only limited access to zone C/D.


Montserrat Volcano Observatory