BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, Mar. 13.2018 – GRENADIANS are on high alert as volcano Kick ‘em Jenny (KeJ) has been upgraded to Orange – meaning that volcanic activities are highly likely, and eruptions may begin in less than twenty-four hours without warning.
Officials in St. Georges made the upgrade yesterday (Mar. 12), one day before the island goes to the polls.
That upgrade has prompted several other islands including Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago to also issue warnings.
In Trinidad and Tobago, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) is assisting in sensitising citizens of the elevated activity of Kick em’ Jenny to an Orange Alert Level.
In a statement yesterday, the body said that KeJ is one of the most active volcanoes in the Eastern Caribbean and as such the University of the West Indies – Seismic Research Centre (UWI SRC) instruments may record increased earthquake activity beneath the volcano during sustained periods.
According to the body, overnight, during March 11-12, 2018, a substantial increase in earthquake activity associated with the volcano was recorded.
“This information was relayed to the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) in Grenada and the alert level for KeJ was increased from Yellow to Orange. This Alert Level suggests that there is a highly elevated level of seismic, fumarolic and/or unusual activity.”
Additionally, they have reported that earthquake activities have slowed, and Trinidad and Tobago is not currently under any threat at the moment.
In Barbados, the Director of the Department of Emergency Management (DEM) Kerry Hinds gave assurance that her agency is monitoring the situation.
Kick ‘em Jenny is an underwater volcano that is located approximately 10 km north of Grenada.
