Montserrat Volcano Observatory


Morning Report
Report for the period 16:00 18 January
to 07:00 19 January 1997
The current alert level is ORANGE


The amount of rockfall activity overnight was reduced slightly from yesterday. However, the southeastern face of the dome remains very unstable. Further collapses and pyroclastic flows into the Tar River Valley may occur during the next few days. If a major dome collapse happens, an explosive eruption is possible, in the same way that an explosion followed a major dome collapse on September 17/18.

There were two swarms of shallow VT earthquakes overnight. The first of these started at about 6 pm yesterday and lasted for approximately one hour. The second started shortly after 5 am this morning and is still occurring. Locations for these events have not yet been calculated, but the signals indicate that they are located at shallow depths beneath the crater. Low level banded tremor continued overnight at approximately 10 to 12 hour intervals..

The summit of the volcano is covered with cloud this morning and no views of the crater area have been possible.

Zone E, which includes Corkhill and the airport, remains safe. The Tar River area is extremely dangerous, and should not be entered under any circumstances.


Montserrat Volcano Observatory