Activity at the Soufriere Hills Volcano has been lower than yesterday. Seismicity is still dominated by small- to moderate-sized rockfalls. The two largest rockfalls occurred at 23:08 and 17:30 on 16 May. No ashfalls were reported from these events. Four long period events and five hybrid events were also recorded. A sustained period of low amplitude broadband tremor began on the Gages seismograph station at 08:17 today.
Visibility was slightly improved compared with yesterday; however, low cloud cover continued to obscure the top of the volcano.
EDM measurements were attempted late this afternoon on the Galways-Chances Peak-O'Garra's triangle. However, low cloud cover prevented any measurements from being made. The University of Puerto Rico GPS network at Roches, Harris, Reid's Hill and St. Georges Hill and the western parts of the MVO GPS network were occupied today. The data from these occupations is currently being processed.
Repairs to the COSPEC equipment have been completed and some measurements were made today. The data is being processed and would be available tomorrow. Gas measurements with the new FTIR technique are currently being conducted.
The present level of activity at the Soufriere Hills Volcano continues to cause concern to the scientists. The MVO urges that visits to the evacuated zone are kept to a minimum. The Tar River, Long Ground and Whites areas are extremely dangerous and should not be entered under any circumstances.