UWI SRC: Kick ‘em Jenny no direct threat to B’dos

ON Monday, Grenada’s National Disaster Management Agency (NaDMA) in collaboration with the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre (UWI SRC), issued an orange alert on submarine volcano, Kick ’em Jenny. Despite this, Director of the UWI SRC, Professor Richard Robertson, indicated that there is no direct threat to Barbados.

Elaborating on this point, Professor Robertson added that a tsunami threat to Barbados does not exist at present. However, he encouraged all in the region to keep monitoring the situation and listen to authoritative sources for information.

This was revealed during a lunchtime LiveStream on UWI’s Seismic Research Centre Facebook page yesterday. Robertson, along with colleague, Education Officer of the SRC Stacey Edwards, gave an updated report on the seismic activity of the volcano as well as responded to the concerns of persons within the region.

Professor Robertson explained that with the orange alert, the SRC expects that an eruption can occur in a short period and within the next 24 hours. Also, the Director said that with the orange alert the advice is that fishermen, ships and people who use that path along Grenada are to stay farther away.

“Therefore, the area that could be affected by the decreased buoyancy to ships like that is what it is on (orange alert). Yellow alert is 1.5 kilometres, orange alert is 5 kilometres (exclusion zone),” said Professor Robertson.

Additionally, he noted that if there is an eruption, there may be a change of temperatures around the area as well as ash floating along the surface of the water. To those concerned about ash being pushed into the atmosphere, the Director reassured that this was unlikely as it would need to break the water’s surface.

He added that if the eruption does not happen, they would have to decide if it was justified changing the alert level, but they will keep monitoring.

LiveStream viewers took the opportunity to ask Professor Robertson several questions about how this increased activity would affect their respective island. Specifically, one viewer wanted to know how Kick ’em Jenny would affect other islands with existing volcanoes. Professor Robertson responded that the present activity of the submarine volcano will not have a direct impact (chain reaction) to the others.

“So we would not expect activity (in Grenada) to cause or affect activity say as close as St. Vincent,” said Professor Robertson.

In the monitoring of Kick ’em Jenny, Dr. Robertson highlighted that there are several seismometers around Grenada which analyse the submarine volcano, providing his centre with information.

Tsunami threat would be localised

Other questions of concern from viewers focused on possibilities of earthquakes and tsunamis. In the situation of earthquakes causing the eruption of volcanos or vice versa, Dr. Robertson noted that the relationship of these phenomena are due to activity of the earth. However, he also said that this does not mean that one causes the other.

Additionally, if there is a tsunami threat, the UWI’s Seismic Research Centre Director said that based on the history of Kick ’em Jenny, it would be localised (near Grenada) with an increase of water level by one or two metres.

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