He noted that this explosion destroyed his tilt meters. At least for now, the Soufriere Hills Volcano is relatively quiet. The communities had been evacuated and no lives were lost. It was extremely fortunate that the evacuation was maintained, because no one could have survived the blast, says Voight. Magma is no longer rising to build the dome, but the volcano remains dangerous.
Occasional gravity collapses still cause ash hurricanes that can run to the sea.
However, it appears that this activity is winding down. The researchers have found clear links among the seismic and deformation data from the volcano, the volcano's behavior and the way that gas and ash eruptions occur. These results, which can be of use elsewhere, improve our ability to mitigate the very dangerous effects of explosive volcanism. The research team consisted of scientists from British Universities, the British Geological Survey, the Seismic Research Unit of the University of the West Indies, U.S.G.S. and Penn State. S.C. Loughlin, R. Luckett, L. Lynch, G.E. Norton, R. Robertson, I.M. Watson and S.R. Young, all working through the Montserrat Volcano Observatory, Montserrat, British West Indies.