Power outages on St Vincent island amid volcano tremors

Another explosive event from La Soufriere volcano triggered power cuts and water outages in some areas of Sanit Vincent island, while ash clouds began to cover parts of Barbados islands.

The volcano erupted on Friday after decades of inactivity. The eruption spewed dark clouds of ash 10 km into the air. This prompted evacuation of thousands of people on the island. The volcano has continued to vent ash afterward.

On Sunday morning, Saint Vincent's National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO) said there was a huge power outage after "another explosive event" at the volcano. However, by 12 p.m. ET (1600 GMT), power had been restored, residents said.

"Explosions and accompanying ashfall, of similar or larger magnitude, are likely to continue to occur over the next few days," the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre said on Twitter.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines, which has a population of just over 100,000, has not experienced volcanic activity since 1979, when an eruption created approximately $100 million in damages. An eruption by La Soufriere in 1902 killed more than 1,000 people. The name means "sulfur outlet" in French.

Finance Minister Camillo Gonsalves said the government believes about 20,000 people will be internally displaced for about three to four months.

"Historically, the volcano keeps going intermittently for a couple months," he said. "Most crops on island will be lost, and untold livestock."

(With AFP inputs)