Montserrat Volcano Observatory

[1] The MVO building is situated in the village of Flemmings, near Salem in the parish of St. Peter, in the west of the island.

An operational base was established by the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Unit (SRU) immediately following the first phreatic explosions on 18 July 1995.

Directors since 2000 have included[6] The volcanologists monitoring and researching the volcanic activities on Montserrat came under immense political pressure to provide suitable advice after the first outbreak.

[8] The eruptions have been deemed a classical example of the black swan problem[9] as a high-profile, hard-to-predict, and rare event which provided major challenges for the prediction of further developments.

[8] Weekly reports of volcanic activity are posted on the official website; MVO also maintains Facebook and Twitter pages.

Montserrat Volcano Observatory in 2011
2007 view of the Soufrière Hills volcano
2009 satellite view of the island of Montserrat from the northeast looking southwest, showing an ash and steam plume from the Soufrière Hills volcano