Observations from September 3rd

Strong winds and heavy rain from Sept 2nd caused flash floods and made viewing the top of the dome difficult.

Almost all of the volcanic activity on the dome has been on the eastern side, although steaming has been coming from many areas on the dome. The Western side shows signs of being unstable and likely to cause pyroclastic flows of an unknown size.

Septermber 3rd has seen two or more hours of increasing rock fall activity and small pyroclastic flows. There were less flows than expected, given the amount of seismic activity. If we do not see many more flows in the next few days, the pressure in the volcanic vents could grow enormously.

Moderate ash clouds of 3 km or less have spread north- westwards, with 1 to 2 cm of ash having fallen in the Cork Hill area. The few pyroclastic flows today produced ash clouds that rose 6 km, but there was no sign of vertical ash cloud columns from the summit of the dome. Ash has fallen on nearly every part of the island from St. Patrick's in the South West, to St. John's in the North, and from Plymouth in the West to Long Ground in the North East, including Bramble Airport.

Volcanic tremors have continued to occur in short bursts, the frequency of which has increased over the past three days. The tremors were similar to those in the previous weeks and were located at depths of less than 2 km (below sea level) beneath the crater. They are generally too small to be felt in occupied areas.