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ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada, CMC – Grenada has recorded over 1,000 small earthquakes stemming from an underwater volcano called "Kick ‘em Jenny". The events occurred last week and have caused the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) to issue an advisory reminding marine traffic and communities within proximity about the build-up of activity.
Located between Carriacou and Grenada, the submarine volcano has been on yellow code for years but sporadically becomes more than active.
“For the months of April and May there were only 29 earthquakes with a magnitude between 1.6 and 2.0, but for the period June 5th to 12th there were 1384 earthquakes with a magnitude as high as 1.8. That was a significant amount for that short period,” said NDMA’s Communications Officer, Oslyn Crosby.
There are four stages of warning for the volcano with yellow, meaning that “seismicity and/or fumarolic activity are above the historical level or other unusual activity has been observed or can be expected without warning."
Green means that the volcano is quiet with no other unusual activity detected, while Orange signals an elevated level of seismic and/or fumarolic activity, or other unusual activity.
The highest color level is red, which means that an eruption is in progress or may begin without further warning.
“The alert level remains at yellow which is a 1.5 km exclusion zone around the summit of the volcano. However, with the increased activity, the Agency encourages marine operators to be vigilant when traversing the area, as increased seismic activity also results in the emission of gases — which can reduce the density of the water around the summit,” NDMA said in statement, reminding marine users to observe the 1.5 kilometres exclusion zone.
