Plymouth, Montserrat Plymouth, Montserrat Plymouth was the capital city of the island of Montserrat, an overseas territory of the United Kingdom located in the Leeward Island chain of the Lesser Antilles, West Indies. Constructed on historical lava deposits near the then-inactive Soufriere Hills volcano, the town was evacuated when the volcano resumed erupting in 1995. Plymouth was abandoned permanently in 1997 after it was burnt and mostly buried by a series of pyroclastic flows and lahars. For centuries, it had been the only port of entry to the island. Plymouth is still the "de jure" capital city of Montserrat, making it the
Volcano meaningless when compared to the lifespans of humans or even civilizations. For example, many of Earth's volcanoes have erupted dozens of times in the past few thousand years but are not currently showing signs of eruption. Given the long lifespan of such volcanoes, they are very active. By human lifespans, however, they are not. Scientists usually consider a volcano to be "erupting" or "likely to erupt" if it is currently erupting, or showing signs of unrest such as unusual earthquake activity or significant new gas emissions. Most scientists consider a volcano "active" if it has erupted in the last 10,000