La Grande Soufrière
Guadeloupe /
Basse-Terre /
Saint-Claude /
World
/ Guadeloupe
/ Basse-Terre
/ Saint-Claude
World / Guadeloupe / Basse-Terre
mountain, volcano
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La Grande Soufrière, (English: "big sulfur outlet"), is an active stratovolcano on the French island of Basse-Terre, in Guadeloupe. It is the highest mountain peak in the Lesser Antilles, rising 1,467 m high.
The last magmatic eruption was in 1580±50 during which the current lava dome was emplaced. More recent eruptions have been phreatic in type. On February 8, 1843, an eruption of La Grande Soufrière caused by an earthquake killed over 5,000 people.
In 1976 a large amount of seismic activity led to a mass evacuation of the island's 72,000 residents.[1] There was a bitter, and well-publicized, controversy between scientists Claude Allègre and Haroun Tazieff on whether evacuation should occur. Allègre held that inhabitants should be evacuated, just in case, while Tazieff held that the Soufrière was harmless. The prefect decided to evacuate, erring on the side of prudence. The volcano erupted on August 30, 1976, but was less severe than had been predicted. There were no fatalities, owing to the complete evacuation.While the island was deserted, the German filmmaker Werner Herzog traveled to the abandoned town of Basse-Terre to find a peasant who had refused to leave his home on the slopes of the volcano. His journey is recorded in the film La Soufrière.
OVSG : www.ipgp.jussieu.fr/pages/030304.php
The last magmatic eruption was in 1580±50 during which the current lava dome was emplaced. More recent eruptions have been phreatic in type. On February 8, 1843, an eruption of La Grande Soufrière caused by an earthquake killed over 5,000 people.
In 1976 a large amount of seismic activity led to a mass evacuation of the island's 72,000 residents.[1] There was a bitter, and well-publicized, controversy between scientists Claude Allègre and Haroun Tazieff on whether evacuation should occur. Allègre held that inhabitants should be evacuated, just in case, while Tazieff held that the Soufrière was harmless. The prefect decided to evacuate, erring on the side of prudence. The volcano erupted on August 30, 1976, but was less severe than had been predicted. There were no fatalities, owing to the complete evacuation.While the island was deserted, the German filmmaker Werner Herzog traveled to the abandoned town of Basse-Terre to find a peasant who had refused to leave his home on the slopes of the volcano. His journey is recorded in the film La Soufrière.
OVSG : www.ipgp.jussieu.fr/pages/030304.php
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Grande_Soufrière
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 16°2'39"N 61°39'48"W
- Fogo 3981 km
- Ilha de S. Jorge 4114 km
- Teide National Park 4799 km
- Vestmannaeyjar 6142 km
- Langjökull 6244 km
- Laki 6275 km
- Hofsjökull 6303 km
- Öræfajökull 6327 km
- Vatnajökull 6330 km
- Volcano Askja 1,516 metres (4,974 ft) 6399 km
- Cite Duchamoy 6.3 km
- Guadeloupe National Park 14 km
- La Réserve de Biosphère de l’Archipel 20 km
- Jarry Industrial Zone 24 km
- Bas-du-Fort 25 km
- Camp de la Jaille 26 km
- Lamentin 26 km
- Raizet 28 km
- Guadeloupe 28 km
- Pointe-à-Pitre International Airport 29 km