The level of activity at the Soufriere Hill Volcano was a bit higher than it had been yesterday. Small rockfall signals continued to be the dominant feature on the records of the closest seismograph stations to the summit of the volcano. A series of moderately sized signals that could have been pyroclastic flows was recorded last night. These signals arrived in four distinct pulses, starting at 20:56 and continued until 21:18. A few other signals that were similar in nature but smaller also occurred during the early hours of this morning. Most of the other usual features such as tremor, long period, regional and volcano-tectonic earthquakes were absent from the visual records.
Low cloud cover continued to blanket the summit area and upper flanks of the volcano. No views of the crater area have been possible late yesterday or early this morning.
The volcano remains unstable and therefore continue to poses a threat to people and property on both the eastern and upper western flanks. Dome growth continues at a slow rate and therefore sections of it will continue to collapse, producing deadly ash flo the Soufriere Hills. The Tar River, Long Ground and Whites areas to the east and upper Fort Ghaut, Gages Village and Upper Amersham areas to the west are still extremely dangerous. The road between Lee's Estate ws. These flows can be easily channelled by the ghauts that drain and Ryners Village remains closed. People should not enter these areas under any circumstances. If they do, they put themselves and others at direct risk of very serious injury or painful death. Visits to the other evacuated zones should be kept to an absolute minimum.