The level of activity over the last 24 hours and the Whit weekend in general has been very high with increased seismicity, rockfalls and pyroclastic flows. For the first time some material has fallen into Tuitt's Ghaut at its top end.
On Sunday the dome was clear for most of the day and scientists had their best views for many weeks. The most active area is the northern side. This activity has resulted in the crater being filled up so that the dome is now level with the crater wall in the region of Tuitt's Ghaut.
In the last 24 hours there has been several swarms of hybrid earthquakes, many of which led to rockfalls. In addition there were some long period earthquakes. The seismic activity continued through the night and started to decline a little at about 2 am this morning (Monday).
There were several pyroclastic flows in the reporting period and most of these were in the Tar River Valley.
The alert level is ORANGE and the volcano is thought to be in a very dangerous phase. There are signs that the gas pressure within the dome is very high and the growth area is threatening the northern area of the volcano. The entire eastern area of Long Ground, Whites and Tuitt's are very dangerous and should not be entered. Everyone is asked to stay tuned to ZJB for the latest updates.
Please note:We have been having some difficulty in logging on to the system we therefore apologise for the late dispatch of recent Volcanic Explanations.
Government Information Service