Kick ‘Em Jenny Volcano Rumbling Near Grenada, Expected To Erupt Within 24 Hours
23 July
Kick ‘em Jenny, an undersea volcano near the north coast of Grenada, was rumbling Thursday, prompting the regional disaster authorities to be on alert. The officials, however, said the volcano posed no tsunami threat to the Caribbean country or other neighboring islands of the Lesser Antilles.
The Seismic Research Center at the University of the West Indies
issued an “orange” alert, meaning that the volcano is expected to erupt within 24 hours. The center also said that seismic activity increased in the volcano, located 8 kilometers (5 miles) north of Grenada, since it began stirring on July 11.
“For the period since the 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 center’s website stated. Recreational divers also noticed some “degassing” on the seafloor off the west coast of Grenada in the Moliniere Sculpture Park area in the form of gas-rich magma bubbles.
The center advised that all boats should stay at least 5 kilometers from the volcano. Mariners face the greatest threat from Kick ‘em Jenny as it releases gases that can lower the density of water leading to sinking of vessels, the
Associated Press (AP) reported.
