Soufrière Hills Volcano (Montserrat) Planning, February 2010

 (From The Volcanism Blog - http://volcanism.wordpress.com/) - Vulcanian eruption at Soufrière Hills 8 February 2010. Soufrière Hills continues to produce a great deal of activity. The Montserrat Volcano Observatory reports that a significant vulcanian eruption occurred at Soufrière Hills volcano on Montserrat on Friday 5 February 2010. The event began at 13:49 local time and last about 7 minutes, sending pyroclastic flows down the volcano’s flanks to the west that swept across the site of the former capital of Plymouth and reached some 500 m out to sea. The resulting plume is reported to have reached an altitude of around 6,700 metres (21,000 feet). This was clearly a spectacular event, but fortunately not too disruptive as the easterly winds ensured that ashfall was limited to uninhabited areas.