Volcanoes Generate Clouds of Fear in Eastern Caribbean

Volcanoes in the Caribbean are threatening to displace thousands of people. The government in the eastern Caribbean country of St Vincent is making preparations to evacuate thousands of citizens, as a volcano called La Soufriere has suddenly come back to life, triggering a string of mild tremors.

The US State Department has also sounded alarms, urging its citizens in the Caribbean to stay vigilant.

As per the latest reports, the volcanoes are spewing gas and steam. In Martinique, an overseas territory of France, a volcano called Mt. Pelee is similarly roaring, threatening to displace as many as 30,000 people.

Both volcanoes are rumbling round-the-clock, causing repeated mild tremors and forming new volcanic domes, according to local media reports.

The authorities have issued an orange alert, meaning large-scale eruptions can occur at any moment.

The volcanoes have a history of killing hundreds of people in the region. When Mt. Pelee erupted for the first time in 1902, it destroyed an entire town of Saint-Pierre, killing more than 30,000 people. Months later, La Soufriere erupted, killing nearly 1,600 people.

The eastern Caribbean has long been home to dozens of active and extinct volcanoes, many of which erupted in sparsely populated remote islands.

Some volcanoes turned out to be devastating even in recent years. In 1997, a volcano called Soufriere Hills destroyed the capital of Plymouth, killing at least 19 people.