LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Montserrat
built 264 days ago
Though Montserrat is no longer making international news, it remains a calm and secure place of fabulous beauty. And it now has a most unique attraction--Soufriere volcano. For years Montserrat was a refuge where stars like Elton John and Paul McCartney could relax and mingle comfortably in the larger community. John spent a lot of his time greeting and saying farewell to a string of lovers at the ferry dock, finally meeting the woman he married at Air Studios. Air Studios, owned by Beatle Musical Director, Sir George Martin, provided state of the art recording equipment in this relaxed Caribbean setting. Not only favored by Elton John, Air Studios drew Paul McCartney's Wings, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins and other big name musicians to Montserrat.
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Montserrat, a Caribbean island southeast of Puerto Rico, is in the process of rebuilding after volcanic eruptions began in 1995 and culminated in a catastrophic eruption in 1997. The Soufriere Hills volcano destroyed the southern half of the island, wiping out the airport and seaport and prompting as much as two-thirds of the population to flee to neighboring islands. The capital, Plymouth, was evacuated and, after being blanketed by volcanic ash, remains abandoned. Reconstruction efforts began in 1998, and slowly residents are returning to the area of the island called the "Safe North." The population in 2001 was approximately 7,600 and growing. The official language is English, and the estimated literacy rate is 97 percent. Montserrat is a British dependency, and the chief of state is the British Monarch, who appoints a local Governor.
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Montserrat has its own FIFA Affiliated Football Team, and has twice competed in the World Cup qualifiers. A field for the team was built near the airport by FIFA. The Montserrat team are currently tied for 201st place in the FIFA world rankings with seven other teams, including American Samoa and Guam. In 2002, the team competed in a friendly with the second-lowest-ranked team in FIFA at that time, Bhutan, in The Other Final- the same day as the final of the 2002 World Cup. Bhutan won 4-0.
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Pyroclastic flows from Montserrat dome collapses have flowed down the White River creating a new delta where they entered the sea. It is uncertain if this delta will survive or be eroded by seawaves. Photograph copyrighted and provided by Steve O'Meara of Volcano Watch International.
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The Soufri�re Hills Volcano on the Lesser Antilles Emerald Isle of Montserrat has been active for the past three years. The volcano is being closely monitored, and, since the onset of the eruptive activity, a Montserrat Volcano Observatory has been established. As a result, seismic, deformation and gas monitoring as well as visual observations of the volcano are regularly performed. The special section in this issue (part 1) and in a forthcoming issue (part 2) is devoted to the Soufri�re Hills eruption. Part 1 focuses on seismicity, ground deformation studies and petrology, and includes an overview of the geology of the eruption. Part 2 will cover topics in seismology, petrology, pyroclastic flow models, gas chemistry, hydrothermal systems, and tsunami models.
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Montserrat made international news when its centuries long dormant volcano became active again. That event and a more destructive eruption in 1997 initiated evacuations and interventions by international aid agencies. Many local people left and made homes elsewhere in the world and many of the foreign home owners looked to other Caribbean islands for their holidays. A population once over 10,000 now is about 4,000. The Soufriere volcano is still active and is monitored. The island's population and commercial enterprises have relocated in the northern third of the island while the southern part of Montserrat is now home only to Soufriere.
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