Activity at the Soufriere Hills Volcano overnight remained at a low level Once again the pens of the seismic drum recorders remained still for most of the update period, recording few small rockfall signals which continue to be the dominant event at the volcano. There were no genuine earthquakes (LP, VT or Hybrid types) that were strong enough to be recorded by the closest seismic stations at Hermatige and Gages. The Chances Peak station has been out of order since Thursday June 20. Low amplitude broadband tremor occurred throughout most of the late afternoon, night and early morning. The amplitude of the tremor increased occasionally for short periods at a time.
No views of the crater area or the upper reaches of the ghauts have been possible late yesterday and this morning due to cloud cover. There have been no interesting events on the Long Ground electronic tilt meter for quite some time and this remained so during the update period.
Volcanic activity dropped to equivalent low levels only for relatively short periods of about 12 hours on May 30, May 24 and May 18. The current level of activity is therefore quite likely to be temporary. The volcano is still unstable potentially harmful to people and property on both the eastern and upper western flanks . The Tar River, Long Ground and Whites areas to the east and upper Fort Ghaut, Gages Village and Upper Amersham areas to the west are all extremely hazardous. The road between Lee's Estate and Ryners Village remains closed. People should not enter these areas under any circumstances. If they do, they put themselves and others at direct risk of very serious injury or death. Visits to the rest of the evacuated zone should be kept to an absolute minimum.