An ash cloud towers above Soufrière Hills in October 1997 as pyroclastic flows descend the volcano's flanks. This was one of a series of 61 explosive eruptions that occurred during a period of high activity between September 28 and October 21. Explosions occurred at an average interval of 8.5 hours. The largest explosions, October 20-21, produced eruption columns to heights of 9 km. Pyroclastic flows accompanying many of the explosions traveled down all sides of the volcano, but were preferentially directed to the north.

Photo by Peter Francis, 1997 (Open University).

This image is made available under the Creative Commons BY-NC 4.0 license terms.

Soufrière Hills