OR/17/045 St. Vincent and the Grenadines
| Duncan, M, Mee, K, Hicks, A, Engwell, S, Robertson, R, Forbes, M, Ferdinand, I, Jordan, C, and Loughlin, S. 2017. Using the 'myVolcano' mobile phone app for citizen science in St. Vincent and the Grenadines: a pilot study. British Geological Survey Open Report, OR/17/045. |
Hazard and risk profile
St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) is an archipelago state in the Eastern Caribbean. The active volcano (La Soufrière) sits in the north of the main island (St. Vincent) and the island is exposed to a number of natural hazards including flooding, tropical cyclones, earthquakes and landslides. Ninety-seven percent of the population live within 30 km of the volcano (Loughlin et al., 2015[1]). Since 1700, La Soufrière volcano has erupted explosively at least four times and exhibited several non-explosive, effusive eruptions (Robertson, 1995). During the last century alone, there were two major eruptions that had significant impacts: an eruption in 1902 that resulted in the deaths of 1565 people (Aspinall et al., 1973[2]) and an eruption in 1979 that resulted in no deaths but caused extensive damage to crops and livestock (Lindsay et al., 2005[3]). Since 1990 most fatalities in St. Vincent have been caused by floods and landslides and most economic losses are caused by tropical cyclones (UNISDR, 2015[4]).
SVG is a Small Island Developing State (SIDS) with an estimated population of 109,373 and GDP per capita of US$ 6515 in 2012 (GFDRR, 2014[5]). Thirty percent of the population lives below the national poverty line (GFDRR, 2014[5]). The public external debt relative to GDP ratio was 70% in 2012, which results in St. Vincent and the Grenadines having limited capacity to manage fiscal impacts of exogenous shocks (GFDRR, 2014[5]).
Hazard assessment and monitoring
Collectively, the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre’s (UWI SRC) scientific staff has had experience of volcano-seismic crises in several Caribbean islands over the past three decades (SRC contribution to Brown et al., 2015a[6], 2015b[7]). Over half the present staff (60%) has experience of volcanic eruptions (SRC contribution to Brown et al., 2015a[6], 2015b[7]). They also monitor and advise on earthquake and tsunami hazard across the region. There are 35 full-time staff (19 scientific, 8 technical and 8 support staff) made up of seismologists, volcanologists and geologists, amongst many others (SRC contribution to Brown et al., 2015b[7]). There exists, therefore, substantial regional knowledge and expertise. However, there is also a significant demand on capacity, especially during volcanic unrest and hazardous events: SRC currently monitors active volcanoes on 8 territories (a total of 21 volcanoes) of the Lesser Antilles (SRC, personal communication, 2011) where 12 of the islands have one or more active volcanoes (see Lindsay et al., 2005[3]). On St. Vincent, UWI SRC collaborates with a small local unit called the Soufrière Monitoring Unit, which operates from the Ministry of Agriculture in Kingstown.
Disaster management
The National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO) of SVG was established in January 2002 to coordinate the use of all available resources (local, regional and international) to ensure that all the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines are better able to mitigate against, prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters in the shortest possible time (Government of St. Vincent, 2017[8]).
References
- ↑ LOUGHLIN, S C, VYE-BROWN, C, SPARKS, R S J, and BROWN, S K et al. 2015. Global volcanic hazards and risk: Summary background paper for the Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 2015. Global Volcano Model and IAVCEI.
- ↑ ASPINALL, W P, LOUGHLIN, S C, MICHAEL, F V, MILLER, A D, NORTON, G E, ROWLEY, K C, SPARKS, R S J, YOUNG, S R. 2002. The Montserrat Volcano Observatory: its evolution, organisation, role and activities. In: ‘The eruption of Soufrière Hills Volcano, Montserrat, from 1995 to 1999’. Memoir of the Geological Society of London. Druitt, T H, Kokelaar, B P, and Young, S R (eds).
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 LINDSAY, J M, ROBERTSON, R E A, SHEPHED, J B, and ALI, S. 2005. Volcanic hazards atlas of the Lesser Antilles. Trinidad and Tobago: Seismic Research Unit, University of the West Indies, 2005.
- ↑ UNISDR (United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction), 2015. Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 2015. [Online] Available: https://www.preventionweb.net/english/hyogo/gar/2015/en/home/index.html [Accessed: 20th May 2015]
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 GFDRR. 2014. Rapid Damage and Loss Assessment (DaLA). December 24–25, 2013 floods: A report by the Government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, January 16 2014.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 BROWN, S K, LOUGHLIN, S C, SPARKS, R S J, VYE-BROWN, C, et al. 2015a. Global volcanic hazards and risk: Technical background paper for the Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 2015. Global Volcano Model and IAVCEI.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 BROWN, S K, SPARKS, R S J, MEE, K, VYE-BROWN, C, ILYINSKAYA, E, JENKINS, S, LOUGHLIN, S C, et al. 2015b. Regional and country profiles of volcanic hazard and risk. Report IV of the GVM/IAVCEI contribution to the Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 2015. Global Volcano Model and IAVCEI.
- ↑ GOVERNMENT OF ST. VINCENT. 2017. Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines — NEMO mission statement. NEMO website: https://security.gov.vc/security/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12&Itemid=5