Volcano Journal Entry

Montserrat Volcano Erupts Again (January 5, 2009)

The Soufriere Hills volcano on the West Indies' island of Montserrat erupted again. The volcano blasted out super-hot debris that sparked fires in the abandoned capital of Plymouth. No injuries were reported. The volcano's lava dome keeps growing, a sign magma is moving within it. Occasional lahars (mudflows) and pyroclastic flows of hot ash, bits of rock, and gas have rumbled down the slopes in recent months. The Montserrat Volcano Observatory is keeping a close eye on the volcano for signs of a bigger eruption.

The once-dormant volcano has erupted many times since it exploded in July 1995. Its most violent eruption was in 1997 when 19 people were killed as the volcano spat out hot rocks and and blasted out a huge cloud of dark ash. Plymouth was plunged into darkness for half of an hour. Half the island's 10,000 residents fled their homes.

The West Indies make up part of a chain of Caribbean islands that formed from the collision of two oceanic plates. As the denser tectonic plate dives under the lighter one, crust sinks along the deep-ocean trench and melts to form magma. The magma seeps through cracks in the crust and eventually breaks through the ocean floor to create a new island. A string of islands formed this way is called an island arc.