Scientific Team from UWI Seismic Research Centre arrives in SVG

A three-person team from The UWI Seismic Research Centre (UWI-SRC) arrived in St Vincent Thursday morning to provide scientific support for the ongoing eruption at La Soufriѐre volcano.

The team, comprising Geologist Prof. Richard Robertson, Instrumentation Engineer Lloyd Lynch and Engineering Technician Ian Juman arrived from Trinidad on board a Regional Security System (RSS) aircraft.

Seismic equipment to be used to monitor La Soufriere being offloaded from the RSS aircraft

“After receiving negative COVID-19 tests, the team was able to leave under travel exemptions from the Government of Trinidad and Tobago. Once on island, the team would be subject to a working quarantine. This modified quarantine will allow the team to strengthen the seismic and GPS networks used to monitor the volcano, while having limited contact with anyone outside the team. Public awareness products recently developed under the Volcano Ready Communities Project will also be distributed. The team will get a second COVD-19 test after seven days,” a post on December 31 on the UWI-SRC Facebook page said.

“Overnight, there has been no significant change at the volcano. The lava dome continues to grow and is being monitored by The National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO) St. Vincent, and The UWI-SRC. The eruption is still ongoing.

“Members of the public are reminded that access to the La Soufriere volcano is strictly prohibited at this time. This continues to be a very dangerous situation. The public is also being asked to refrain from tampering with scientific equipment at the volcano as this only places the population at greater risk,” the UWI-SRC’s post said.