La Grande Soufrière
Encyclopedia
La Grande Soufrière, is an active stratovolcano
located on the French
island of Basse-Terre
, in Guadeloupe
. It is the tallest mountain in the Lesser Antilles
, and rises 1,467 m high.
The volcano's 1976 eruption led to an evacuation but no loss of life. There was a bitter, and well-publicized, controversy between scientists Claude Allègre
and Haroun Tazieff
on whether evacuation should be decided. Allègre held that inhabitants should be evacuated, just in case, while Tazieff held that the Soufrière was harmless. The prefect
decided to evacuate, erring on the side of prudence: in the end the eruption did not result in any damage.
While the island was deserted, the German filmmaker Werner Herzog
traveled to the abandoned town of Basse-Terre to find a peasant who had refused to leave his home on the slopes of the volcano. His journey is recorded in the film La Soufrière
.
Stratovolcano
A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a tall, conical volcano built up by many layers of hardened lava, tephra, pumice, and volcanic ash. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile and periodic, explosive eruptions...
located on the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
island of Basse-Terre
Basse-Terre Island
Basse-Terre Island is the name of the western-half of Guadeloupe proper, in the Lesser Antilles. It is separated from the other half of Guadeloupe proper, Grande-Terre, by a narrow sea channel called the Rivière Salée ....
, in Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...
. It is the tallest mountain in the Lesser Antilles
Lesser Antilles
The Lesser Antilles are a long, partly volcanic island arc in the Western Hemisphere. Most of its islands form the eastern boundary of the Caribbean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean, with the remainder located in the southern Caribbean just north of South America...
, and rises 1,467 m high.
The volcano's 1976 eruption led to an evacuation but no loss of life. There was a bitter, and well-publicized, controversy between scientists Claude Allègre
Claude Allègre
Claude Allègre is a French politician and scientist.- Scientific work :The main scientific area of Claude Allègre is geochemistry....
and Haroun Tazieff
Haroun Tazieff
Haroun Tazieff was a French volcanologist and geologist. He was a famous cinematographer of volcanic eruptions and lava flows, and the author of several books about volcanoes....
on whether evacuation should be decided. Allègre held that inhabitants should be evacuated, just in case, while Tazieff held that the Soufrière was harmless. The prefect
Préfet
A prefect in France is the State's representative in a department or region. Sub-prefects are responsible for the subdivisions of departments, arrondissements...
decided to evacuate, erring on the side of prudence: in the end the eruption did not result in any damage.
While the island was deserted, the German filmmaker Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog Stipetić , known as Werner Herzog, is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and opera director.He is often considered as one of the greatest figures of the New German Cinema, along with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Margarethe von Trotta, Volker Schlöndorff, Werner...
traveled to the abandoned town of Basse-Terre to find a peasant who had refused to leave his home on the slopes of the volcano. His journey is recorded in the film La Soufrière
La Soufrière (film)
La Soufrière - Warten auf eine unausweichliche Katastrophe is a 1977 West German documentary film in which German director Werner Herzog visits an island on which a volcano is about to erupt...
.