TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — This photo shows a massive volcanic eruption that struck Taiwan's diplomatic ally Saint Vincent and the Grenadines over the weekend.
La Soufriere, a volcano located on the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent, began an effusive eruption on Dec. 27 last year. Over the following month, a lava dome began to form and reached 105 meters in height and 243 meters in width by March of this year.
A red alert was issued on April 8 as volcanic and seismic activity began to intensify and evacuation orders were issued for fear of an impending eruption. At 8:41 a.m. on April 9, the stratovolcano experienced a massive eruption that projected an ash column 7 kilometers into the sky, reported AP.
La Soufriere spews ash cloud. (AP photo)
This was the first time the volcano has erupted since 1979, with Elford Lewis, a 56-year-old farmer who survived that event, saying this year's eruption is worse. Another eruption, which took place in 1902, killed an estimated 1,600 people.
Thus far, 16,000 people have evacuated communities covered by the volcanic ash, with many taking refuge in government-run shelters and four empty cruise ships. There have not been any reports of injuries or deaths resulting from the eruption.
At 6 a.m. on Saturday (April 10), Twitter user Oni!✗ posted a photo of a towering ash cloud and simply wrote "Wow." In the photo, it can be seen that the ash cloud consists of several massive layers in various shapes and colors.
La Soufriere spews ash cloud. (AP photo)
Toward the top, two layers of white clouds are fused together to form what looks like a mouth. Some compared it to a crew mate from the online game "Among Us" or related memes, simply called "Amogus."
Within just two days, the photo gained 359,000 likes, 3,000 quote tweets, and nearly 40,000 retweets.
Spectacular photo of La Soufriere erupting. (Twitter, Oni!✗ photo)
