St. George's Grenada, May 16, 2007 (NaDMA) - A team of scientists has installed a new underwater earthquake monitoring system on the Kick ‘em Jenny submarine volcano off the north coast of Grenada.
The installation is part of a project to develop new technology for earthquake monitoring of coastal areas and, if successful, should significantly improve how the volcano is monitored. 
The project uses an ocean bottom seismometer (OBS) to collect high quality data from Kick ‘em Jenny and a special mooring system to send the seismic data to the volcano observatory in Sauteurs.
“This allowed us to detect even the very smallest signals that the volcano generates and I would just like to point out that the eruptions that have seismic precursors that serve as a warning that the volcano is about to erupt” said Dr. Robert Reves-Sohn of the Woods-Hole Oceanographic Institution.
“In l990 Kick Em Jenny erupted without any apparent precursory activity and we feel that by having the seismometer now right on the volcano this would provide additional sensitivity and we might just be able to get actual warnings of eruptions that can be detected by the stations on land “said Dr. Reves-John, the lead scientist for the project.
The data that is collected from the volcano will reach the shore within seconds of being generated, which will allow researchers to monitor coastal geologic hazards in real-time, a basic requirement for reducing hazards posed by earthquakes and tsunamis.
This is the first time that such a system is being tested and used anywhere in the world, and it is hoped that it will provide invaluable data regarding
earthquake activity on the Kick 'em Jenny volcano.
The scientific team was hosted by Grenada’s National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA) and included researchers from the US-based Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the Seismic Research Unit of the University of the West Indies.
During their visit to Grenada, the scientists discussed the project with dive operators, fishermen and residents of Sauteurs.
“One of the things we wanted to do was to let them know because they are going to obviously see this and they going to want to know what it is so we just wanted to spend a little bit of time giving them some information about it ..”Dr.Reves said.
“So that when they are planning their fishing operation, they can make sure that they don’t drag a line across the mooring. Another thing we highlighted to them there is a kilometer and a half exclusion zone around the volcano anywhere so technically it should not be an issue “he said.
Kick 'em Jenny provides scientists with a unique natural laboratory to study the activity at a shallow submarine volcano that will one day emerge to form a new volcanic island. It is the only 'live' submarine volcano in the West Indies known to scientists and it has erupted at least 12 times since 1939, with the last major eruption occurring in 2001.
Major funding for this project came from the National Science Foundation. Additional funds were provided by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the US Geological Survey.
Contact: Rawle Titus
National Disaster Management Agency (NaDMA)
Fort Frederick
Mt Wheldale, Upper Lucas
St Georges
Grenada
Tel: (473) 440-0838
Fax: (473) 440-6674
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