Montserrat italic have been destroyed by pyroclastic flows since the 1997 eruption. Others have been evacuated or destroyed since 1995. Montserrat Montserrat () is a Caribbean island in the Leeward Islands, which is part of the chain known as the Lesser Antilles, in the West Indies. It is a British Overseas Territory (BOT). Montserrat measures approximately in length and in width, with approximately of coastline. Montserrat is nicknamed "The Emerald Isle of the Caribbean" both for its resemblance to coastal Ireland and for the Irish ancestry of many of its inhabitants. On 18 July 1995, the previously dormant Soufrière Hills volcano,
Devastation Trail and the intensity of the earthquakes also increased. By nightfall, the earthquakes stopped, and the eruption began. The fissure eruption produced fountains of lava which cascaded to the floor of the crater some 100 m below the erupting fissure. Forest fires were also noted. Over the next few days, the lava fountains became higher and higher, eventually reaching a height of more than 500 meters. Erupting pumice started building a new cinder cone that was later named " Puu Puai", (gushing hill). A lava lake also developed on the crater floor. The eruption produced both Pele's hair, the geological term