Martinique authorities concerned about activities on Mt. Pelée

Large rocks carried by the new mudflows. Photo: Martinique 1ère

Over the past days a strange, but not unusual, phenomenon has been taking place in the French overseas department of Martinique which is being closely monitored by the authorities there.

The river bed in Prêcheur, Martinique has been flooded with mud coming from Mt. Pelée which is an active volcano.

The authorities are closely monitoring the activities asking the persons living in the immediate vicinity and neighboring villages to be prepared if they are called to evacuate.

According to Martinique 1ère, 300 residents of the neighborhoods of Abymes, Pohie and Coquette were evacuated on Thursday night as a result of the mudslides, called “lahars,” which were much larger than previous days. On Friday morning (January 12), they were allowed to return home but they were told to be vigilant.

According to volcanologists monitoring the activities, the ‘lahars’ are not new to the area.

It is “the most unstable area of the mountain and it still bears the scars of events that occurred more than a hundred thousand years ago,” according to Valérie Clouart, director of the Volcano Observatory Center.

It is believed that the mudslides were caused by heavy rain, which affected Martinique during the Christmas weekend. Authorities have said they are not due to seismic or volcanic activities.

There was a previous occurrence of the same kind, “on the 19th and 20th of June 2010, where twenty houses in Prêcheur were affected without causing loss of life,” said the director of the Observatory.

On the 8th of May, 1902 Mt. Pelée unleashed an eruption that killed approximately 30,000 people, the highest death toll of any volcanic activity in the twentieth century. The volcano had been giving warning signs for days, but the government did not take heed because it did not want anything to interfere with its upcoming election. The volcano wiped out the entire town of St Pierre, leaving only three people alive.

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14 Comments

  1. Michael Leathers
    May 5, 2018

    Edgar Cayce forcasts that when Mt Etna and Mt Pelee erupt at the same time that the US has 90 days to evacuate California. The North South Pole flip is the cause of the trama. I’ve heard two reports one says that the N Pole has moved 1000 miles and another report says it has moved 500 miles.
    Google “US Navy Edgar Cayce future map and you can see the water changes.
    The whole E coast is under water including Florida and the Mississippi turns into a bay and the Great lakes dump into the Gulf of Mexico.
    Mt Etna has been erupting since 2014.

  2. Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
    January 13, 2018

    Some history!

    Mount Pelée, French Montagne Pelée, active volcanic mountain on the Caribbean island of Martinique. Situated 15 miles (24 km) northwest of Fort-de-France, it reaches an elevation of 4,583 feet (1,397 metres). Pelée, whose name is a French term meaning “Bald,” consists of layers of volcanic ash and lavas.

    Its gently sloping cone is scored with ravines and supports luxuriant forests. Minor eruptions occurred in 1792 and 1851, but on May 8, 1902, it violently destroyed the port of Saint-Pierre, killing approximately 30,000 people, 15 percent of the island’s population.

    So dramatic was this event that the name of the mountain has been adopted (as in the term pelean) to describe that particular kind of eruption of ash, gas, and deadly nuée ardente (“fiery cloud”). A minor eruption occurred in 1929

  3. Barbie
    January 13, 2018

    I live in Dominica an for the past few days I have been feeling small tremors could it be the volcanic activity in Martinique that’s causing this????

    • Really mayne
      January 14, 2018

      Did you read the article – _-

  4. Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
    January 13, 2018

    The difference of the construction of a bridge in Martinique, and even the new one built at a cost of more than $18,000,000.00 million dollars!

    Notice how high it is built over the river of mud!

  5. john
    January 12, 2018

    My great grandmother was living on Dominica at Soufriere in 1902 and told us that during the eruption the volcanic cloud from Martinique moved north and spread over Dominica and blocked out the sun for about 3 days, she said the ash was everywhere and the ground in Dominica shook during the eruption, she said it was like hell on earth. The people who want to drill down in Dominica to tap into the volcano for electric generation need to give it a lot of thought before messing with mother earth, they may start an eruption by accident and wipe out Roseau or Portsmouth if the crater at boiling lake erupts.

    • Jack Sprat
      January 12, 2018

      But what if tapping into it reduces the pressure and actually prevents future eruptions? Volcanic activity is pretty much guaranteed for the Caribbean. Might as well get something out of it

    • Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
      January 13, 2018

      Volcano ash traveled all the way to Wesley, if you go on the beach North of Melville Hall Airport, you will find part of the beach is all black volcanic sand, while parts has the regular brown appearance.

  6. mine
    January 12, 2018

    Lord spear you people from any devastation.

  7. Real Truth
    January 12, 2018

    I pray we all learned something from this article ……….

  8. derp
    January 12, 2018

    “The volcano had been giving warning signs for days, but the government did not take heed because it did not want anything to interfere with its upcoming election.”

    Remember, remember, this people….

    • Jazz53
      January 12, 2018

      Quote by Robin Williams. “Politics :” Poli “a Latin word meaning many” and” tic” Meaning “bloodsucking Creatures”.

  9. indira Ghandi
    January 12, 2018

    This says how selfish politicians are.
    They were only concerned about themselves and not about the people.
    That should open our eyes, people.
    politicians only want us and use us to help them get in power so they can reign over us.
    OPEN YOUR EYES.

  10. Nacinimod
    January 12, 2018

    Moun nan Matinik, Fè atansyon ak bon chans

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