La Soufrière

La Soufrière is an active stratovolcano on the island of Saint Vincent, the largest island of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, that lies within the Lesser Antilles in the southeastern Caribbean Sea. The latest explosive eruptions occurred in 2021.

The volcano rises to 1,178 m (3,864 ft) and 1,234 m (4,048 ft) north of the crater, the highest peaks on the island of Saint Vincent and the highest points in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. La Soufrière has a crater lake and is the island's youngest and northernmost volcano.

The volcano is known to have erupted 23 times in the last 4,000 years. La Soufrière has had five recorded explosive eruptions: 1718, 1812, 1902, 1979 and 2021. In addition, a minor event occurred in 1971, altering the structure of the volcano's crater lake.

Dormant since 1979, the latest eruptive activity began in December 2020. The volcano awoke with a series of explosive events starting in April 2021.

Eruption of 1902

The eruption of May 1902 killed 1,680 people, just hours before the eruption of Mount Pelée on the island of Martinique, which killed 29,000. On St. Vincent, 600 people were injured or burned, and 4,000 were homeless.

The death zone, where almost all persons were killed, was mainly within the Island Caribs habitat, an indigenous people of the Lesser Antilles. This last significant remnant of Carib culture was destroyed due to the volcano. By 1907, the volcano was inactive, and the crater lake had reformed.

Eruption of 1979

An eruption on April 13, 1979, caused no casualties as the warning allowed thousands of residents to evacuate to nearby beaches. However, the 1979 eruption created a large ash plume that reached Barbados, 160 km (100 mi) east of the volcano.

Eruption of 2021

Increased volcanic activity was observed in December 2020; an effusive eruption formed a new lava dome inside the summit crater on December 27.

An explosive eruption occurred at 8:41 AM local time on April 9, 2021. An ash plume reached approximately 8,000 m (26,000 ft), drifting eastward toward the Atlantic Ocean. By then, about 16,000 people had evacuated the area surrounding the volcano.

Explosive eruptions that generated pyroclastic flows continued over the following weeks, with plumes reaching nearby Barbados, covering both islands with ash.