The Seismic Research Centre (SRC) of the University of the West Indies has issued an orange alert for the underwater volcano Kick’em Jenny, after strong and sustained signals were recorded in the early hours of Thursday morning suggesting than an eruption could occur with less than 24-hours notice.
Instruments monitoring the volcano, located 8km north of Grenada (12.3000° N, 61.6400° W), recorded strong, continuous activity between 1:25 a.m. and 3.am. Grenada, as well as St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago are particularly on alert.
“Signs of elevated seismicity began on July 11 and continue to present. For the period since July 11, a total of more than 200 micro and small earthquakes, of varying magnitudes, have been recorded, with the largest, prior to the strong signal, less than magnitude 3.0,” the SRC reported. “This activity is being closely monitored by the UWI-SRC and further updates would be issued as more information becomes available,” the centre said.
Orange Level – Highly elevated level of seismic and/or fumarolic activity or other unusual activity. Eruption may begin with less than twenty-four hours notice.
What is Kick ’em Jenny?
Kick ’em Jenny is a submarine volcano located 8km north of Grenada. The volcano is about 1300m high, and its summit is currently thought to be about 180m below the surface of the sea. As far as we know, Kick ’em Jenny is the only ‘live’ (likely to erupt again) submarine volcano in the Eastern Caribbean. It is also the most frequently active volcano in the region, erupting at least 12 times since it was discovered in 1939. The last eruption of Kick ’em Jenny occurred in December 2001. For details of that eruption go to news archives. The volcano is currently at Alert Level ORANGE and there is 5km exclusion zone around the volcano.
