Saturday 11 April 2015

Montserrat Case Study A2 Geography - LEDC Volcano

Background Info
  • Soufriere Hills is located in Montserrat, a small Caribbean island close to Antigua. 
  • 7 miles wide and 12 miles long. 
  • Population of 5,900 (2008). 
  • Categorized as a Less Economically Developed Country.
  • English territory
  • Geographically it is located where the North and South American plate boundaries are being subducted beneath the Caribbean Plate creating the Puerto Rico trench therefore it is classified as a Destructive Plate Boundary.

The Volcano
  • Composite volcano, made up of layers of ash and andesitic lava.
  • It had been showing signs since 1995 when it erupted for the first time in 350 years. 
  • A lava dome then built up and when it collapsed on 25th June 1997 it caused a pyroclastic flow measuring up to 120 km/h and 600 degrees. 
Impacts

Social

  • 19 dead
  • 5,000 in temporary shelters
  • 50% of population were evacuated to the north
  • Many school and hospitals destroyed
  • Airport and port closed
Economic
  • Unemployment rose from 7% to 50%
  • 7000 people left the island which left a skills shortage
  • The capital Plymouth became a ghost town
Environmental

  • South of the island's soil was scorched and cannot be used
  • Forest fires burnt down trees
  • Floods s valleys were blocked with ash
Responses
  • Exclusion zone set up in south of the island
  • UK gave £41 million in aid
  • £2400 given to each citizen in order to relocate
  • Emergency investments in order to ensure essentials such as sanitation were available
  • After the first signs in 1995 the MVO (Montserrat Volcano Observatory) was set up and staffed by scientists in order to monitor volcanic activity and it associated hazards.


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