All I can say is, "Holy shit." Once again, there is volcanic activity in the Caribbean, including Martinique, the site of one of the most destructive eruptions in human history back in 1902, when Mount Pelee blew its stack and destroyed the town of St. Pierre. Only two people were known to have survived the eruption, which killed over 30,000 people thanks to a bunch of political posturing when the town had advanced warning.
St. Pierre did eventually rebuild from the tragedy, but today's population is only a fraction of what it was in 1902. Mount Pelee is once again making rumbles, but people are much more aware these days.
Several books have been written about the 1902 catastrophe. A couple of favorites of mine are The Day the World Ended, which is hard to get these days and costs an arm and a leg if you want a copy, and The Last Days of St. Pierre, which was published in 2002.
The latest:
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