La Grande Soufrière
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| La Grande Soufrière | |
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| Elevation | 1,467 metres |
| Location | Guadeloupe, Caribbean |
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| Type | Stratovolcano |
| Last eruption | 1977 |
La Grande Soufrière, (French: "big sulphur outlet"), is an active stratovolcano located on the French island of Basse-Terre, in Guadeloupe. It is the tallest mountain in the Lesser Antilles, and rises 1,467 m high.
The volcano's 1976 eruption led to an evacuation but no loss of life. There was a well-publicized bitter controversy between scientists Claude Allègre and Haroun Tazieff on whether evacuation should be decided: Allègre held that inhabitants should be evacuated, just in case, while Tazieff held that the Soufrière was harmless. The prefect decided to evacuate, erring on the side of prudence; the eruption did not result in any damage.
Whilst the island was deserted, the German filmmaker Werner Herzog travelled to the abandoned town of Basse-Terre to find a peasant who had refused to leave his home on the slopes of the volcano. His journey is recorded in the film La Soufrière.
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Location on WikiMapia
[edit] References
- Global Volcanism Program
- OVSG : Observatoire volcanologique et sismologique de Guadeloupe
- Parc National de la Guadeloupe, manager of the top of the Soufrière
