Montserrat is a tropical island in the West Indies.  With a land area of 102 square kilometers, it is about three-fifths the size of Washington, DC.  In addition to the hazard of hurricanes, Montserrat is home to Soufriere Hills, a stratovolcano, which is located in the southeastern part of the island.  Soufriere Hills is the largest of seven volcanoes on the island.  The first recorded eruption of Soufriere Hills was on July 18, 1995.  The volcano has been erupting ever since.

Montserrat is part of an island arc in the Atlantic Ocean that was created by two converging oceanic plates (the Caribbean plate and the North American plate).  Plate tectonics describes that the older, more dense of the two converging plates will subduct, initiate melting of the underlying mantle, and will ultimately allow molten rock to rise to the surface creating volcanoes.  Although volcanoes are beautiful and fun to watch as they erupt, they create a deadly hazard to all life in its path. 

Since eruptions of Soufriere Hills began, volcanologists from all over the world have flocked to study the activities that drive the volcano.  It has become one of the most closely monitored volcanoes in the world.  Scientists at the Montserrat Volcano Observatory, along with geologists from the USGS are carefully measuring changes in volcanic activity, which they hope will lead them to be able to predict volcanic eruptions in the future.