The activity at the volcano today has been dominated by swarms of hybrid earthquakes. It is thought that this activity is linked to dome growth in which case the dome is still growing rapidly.
The dome has visibly increased in size since yesterday. It is still spilling over the low north west side of the crater and this side of the dome looks very steep and somewhat unstable. It is very likely that as the dome continues to grow pyroclastic flows will be generated, these are most likely to travel down Tuitt's Ghaut. Collapses from older dome material could occur in any of the ghauts around the volcano.
Seismicity has been moderate today with three hybrid earthquake swarms. The first one occurred between 7 and 9.30 last night, it was fairly intense with 68 hybrid earthquakes and 7 long period earthquakes occurring in two and a half hours. The second swarm occurred between 1 and 3.30 in the early hours of this morning and was not as intense as the first one. The third swarm occurred between 10 and 11.51 this morning and this included 58 hybrid earthquakes. Overall between 4pm yesterday and 4pm today there have been 184 hybrids, 30 long period earthquakes, 5 volcano-tectonic earthquakes and 29 rockfalls.
Friths, Old Towne and Salem are not safe with activity in its current state. Anyone remaining in these areas is strongly urged to move out of the exclusion zone. Ghauts leading away from the volcano are especially dangerous because of the possibility of hot mudflows travelling down the valleys after heavy rainfall in higher regions. Stay tuned to Radio Montserrat for further information.