The University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre (SRC) is reporting a “large explosion” occurred at La Soufriere volcano in St Vincent and the Grenadines on Tuesday night.
No more details are available at this time, but residents in St Vincent said they saw lots of lightning during the event.
The SRC said earlier in the day the volcano continues to erupt explosively and “accompanying ashfall, of similar or larger magnitude”, will continue to occur over the next few days.
The centre also explained why lightning was visible during explosions. Static electricity is built up in the ash column as the fine particle collide and when it is rapidly discharged, lightning occurs.
The Barbados Met Office on Tuesday discontinued the volcanic ash advisory for the island, but prior to that, estimated ash took approximately 90 minutes to arrive here. (SAT)