Evacuation plan set up for Mayaro mud volcano area

Four additional mud volcano craters have been discovered at Cascadoux Trace in the wake of an eruption last week.

While geological risk assessments continue, the Mayaro/Rio Claro Regional Corporation (MRCRC) will meet with villagers this week to discuss evacuation plans, should they become necessary.

Chairman Raymond Cozier told Newsday the UWI Seismic Research Centre and Touchstone Exploration's exploration manager Xavier Moonan began assessments at the site on Saturday, but more tests were required.

"They had indicated they were trying to pull things together to get that done early this week but it hasn't been engaged thus far."

Simultaneously, he said, the MRCRC's disaster management unit (DMU) was working with the residents to identify additional craters in the village. He said an additional four were documented.

Along with the Cascadoux mud volcano and the one that emerged on Thursday, there are now six sites in the area.

Moonan told Newsday the assessment did not turn up anything unexpected, with the new vents showing minimal activity.

"The investigation and analysis...did not find anything out of the ordinary or what should not be expected in this village, which sits atop a mud volcano.

"The mud from various vents found shows that they are consistent between each other, and they align with a known fault in the area responsible for the location of the Cascadoux mud volcano."

"The new vents all occur in areas that historically had appearances of vents from time to time. The activity at these vents is minimal. There has been no fracturing, further development of cracks, swelling or tilting of the area or any other indicators of possible immediate increase in mud volcano activity."

Cozier said the DMU has identified a muster point, and response agencies such as police and the fire service will meet with the nine families who live in the area in the first half of the week to discuss evacuation routes and an existing tsunami alarm system that will now be used as an alert for mud-volcano activity.

"By Tuesday or Wednesday, we should be having the community meeting with all the families in that area to discuss the situation and the risks and inform them of the muster point and further measures of what should happen in case of further activities of the mud volcano."

"Today, the mud volcano isn't really doing much. You seeing slight bubbles in the centre."

On the evening of January 11, a new vent appeared in the ground near the home of Rakesh Seecheran, spewing mud and making rumbling noises. The fire service evacuated his household and another nearby one with 11 people later that day.

Though the assessment is ongoing, Cozier said preliminary reports suggest Seecheran and his family may not be able to return to the site, where he currently has a house under construction.

"That is not an official position. The DMU is also discussing preparing to assist them in preparation of HDC (Housing Development Corporation) forms, providing them with supporting documents to justify the urgency for a home if that is the final decision where they must move."

During a visit to the site on Friday, Seecheran told Newsday he does not feel safe returning to live at the site with his wife and two children after Thursday's eruption.

"I really frighten. You know, living in fear. If you go to work and leave your family here, it's dangerous. If I go to work, something could happen," he said.

While not scheduled for the upcoming meeting, Cozier said it would also be "prudent" for there to be evacuation drills for the community.

He said the existing tsunami early warning system "has the capacity to add different tones for different disasters. Right now, in this immediate situation...it will be used for volcanic activities, and then we'll try to programme it for the different tone – which tone will be for the volcano and what tone would be for tsunami."