| Location and setting: Montserrat, British West Indies, island-arc volcano Background information: Non-eruptive seismic swarms at 30-year intervals in the 20th century; alternation between explosive activity and lava dome formation-and-destruction episodes since 1995. Eruption ongoing at time of writing; 2/3 of island uninhabitable as result of activity. Relevance to project: Type volcano regarding longevity of dome forming eruption interspersed by explosive activity and periods of repose; major impact on local communities and economy; retrospective (hindsight) analysis of unrest periods long before and leading up to eruption, to derive useful tools for 20 future eruptions at similar volcanoes including lessons to be learnt with respect to crisis communications, hazard assessment and forecasting. Monitoring data available to consortium: Seismic data for the several years leading up to the 1995 eruption and also for the first two years of the eruption. Campaign-style GPS and gravity data between 2006 and 2009; 240 days of continuous gravity data from 2006-9. Data on the current monitoring of Soufrière Hills (pdf format) |