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| Map of Monsterrat showing the unsafe area in red | |
OLVESTON, Montserrat, April 27, 2007 - The chances that a collapse of the dome of the Sourfriere Hills volcano could impact people in the safe zone is minimal and there is no reason to expand the no-go area in Montserrat, the government said.
Maintaining the alert level at 4 - the second highest, the Emergency Policy Group (EPG), which met this week, took the decision based on advise it received from scientists monitoring the volcano. They said that there was over a 50 per cent likelihood that a dome collapse would go to the east and that the chances of a gravitational collapse of more than 20 million cubic materials of material impacting the inhabited areas were minimal.
As a result the EPG said that there was no need to extend the unsafe area at present because under present conditions, the boundaries of the now existing unsafe area were adequate to protect against the current threat posed by the volcano.
It also said that further work has been commissioned to determine what events should trigger a relaxation or expansion of the unsafe area. This to be completed by 8 May
There are other questions which remain unanswered such as whether the hour of entry into the unsafe zone should be extended. The EPG has set up a committee to review this matter.
The EPG also requested that there should be further analysis of a request to access Belham to remove stockpiles of aggregate which are needed for the construction industry. It said it would also consider written requests for other supervised activities in the unsafe areas on a case by case basis.
The group has also asked the scientists to consider whether the Maritime Exclusion Zone should be extended.
The volcano, which had been dormant for centuries, rumbled to life July 18, 1995 destroying the capital Plymouth, killing 19 people, and rendering nearly half of the island unsafe. Of the original population of about 13, 000 only 8,000 remain.
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