According to a report received from the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Transformation, Forestry and Fisheries, three Seismic monitoring stations at La Soufriere, St. Vincent were tampered with and vandalized. Three solar panels from the monitoring stations, two charger control units and one GPS antenna were stolen. The wires connecting the equipment were also vandalized.
The National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO) wishes to support the Hon. Minister of Agriculture, Montgomery Daniel in making an urgent plea for members of the public not to tamper with, or remove any equipment that is used to monitor seismic activity at the La Soufriere volcano.
This is the second time in less than five months that the equipment have been vandalized and the solar panels stolen. Such actions are putting the Vincentian population at risk: Dr. Richard Robertson, Director of the Seismic Research Centre says “without this equipment we cannot monitor the volcano as effectively as we would like and this is our real concern as La Soufriere is a volcano that must be closely monitored at all times.”
NEMO is urging anyone with information on the stolen equipment to contact the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force at 457-1211 or the Soufriere Monitoring Unit at 457-1479 immediately.
We must remember that St. Vincent and the Grenadines is in a seismically active area and earthquakes can occur at any time. The La Soufriere is an active volcano, hence the seismic stations are there to provide early warnings on any activity at the volcano.
The general public can contact NEMO to learn more about earthquake and volcanic hazards.
