 |  | | The Eruption - Dome Collapse
Dome building occurs when magma is pushed up through a vent and reaches the top of the volcano. When magma reaches the top of the volcano, it is called lava. The lava at the Soufrière Hills Volcano is extremely viscous meaning it is thick and sticky. It is too thick to flow down the side of the volcano the way we usually think of lava. Instead, the lava piles up in the crater at the top of the volcano in a huge dome. Prior to 25th June 1997, the volcano had gone through a period of dome building. Eventually the dome became unstable and collapsed, causing huge pyroclastic flows. |  | |  | |  |  |
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