Montserrat - a Submerged Paradise

Only 4500 people are living on Montserrat, today. More than 9000 inhabitants had fled for good from this approx. 100 km2 big Caribbean island in 1997 due to a series of catastrophic eruptions of the volcano Soufrière Hills. The 1090 m high mountain is still active and constantly exhausting sulphuric clouds of hot steam from its steep slopes. That is why the largest and most fertile part of the island hasn't been inhabited permanently, again. 1997, in the wake of several phyroclastic eruptions the complete area of Monserrat's capital Plymouth had been covered by a 3-5 m high avalanche of liquified ash, mud, gravel and boulders, turning the one and only economic and social center of the island into a submerged ghost town. It is only since 2016 that the area can be visited by guided tours, again.  

Cameras:  Panasonic DC-FT7 + Sony RX1  

Very special thanks to Alfred Meixner!