Overview
- The Martinique Volcanological and Seismological Observatory recorded 124 volcanic earthquakes between July 24 and July 31 and a total of 331 quakes in July, triggering the raised alert level.
- Officials set the alert to YELLOW to signal elevated unrest and said an eruption in the short term is unlikely while cautioning that conditions could evolve over weeks to months.
- Since May scientists have measured several inches of summit uplift at about 0.5 inches per month, a pattern consistent with a pressurized source roughly 0.6 miles beneath the summit.
- Nearly all recent quakes were shallow and low magnitude (around M1) and went unfelt, but scientists are closely watching one deeper tremor about three miles below sea level at the hydrothermal–magma boundary.
- The 1902 eruption that destroyed Saint‑Pierre and killed roughly 30,000 people explains the high stakes for residents and infrastructure, and a 2021 study cited in reporting estimates roughly 400,000 people could be at risk from pyroclastic flows and ashfall in a major event which could also disrupt electricity and aviation.