Soufrière Hills

Plymouth, Montserrat's capital, is the only ghost town in the world that serves as the official capital of a political territory — it remains the de jure capital despite being buried under meters of volcanic debris.

The 1995–2013 eruption produced over 1 km³ of andesitic magma, making it one of the most voluminous dome-building eruptions of the modern era.

Nineteen people were killed on June 25, 1997, when a dome-collapse pyroclastic flow swept through the officially evacuated zone — they had returned to their homes against evacuation orders.

Approximately two-thirds of Montserrat's population (roughly 7,000 of 12,000 people) fled the island, with 4,000 relocating to the United Kingdom.

The eruption destroyed W. H. Bramble Airport and AIR Studios Montserrat, where artists including The Police, Dire Straits, and Elton John had recorded music.

Scientists discovered two interconnected magma chambers beneath Soufrière Hills — at 6 km and 12 km depth — explaining the sustained decades-long magma supply.

The Montserrat Volcano Observatory has maintained continuous monitoring since 1995, producing one of the most comprehensive datasets of any dome-building eruption in history.

The southern half of Montserrat remains a designated Exclusion Zone — one of the most restrictive volcanic access prohibitions in the world.

Before the 1995 eruption, Soufrière Hills had not erupted in recorded history — the last activity was likely around 1550 CE, before English colonization in 1632.

A May 2006 dome collapse sent 90 million cubic meters of material into the Caribbean Sea within three hours — the entire lava dome destroyed in a single event.