Ecuador's Tungurahua volcano spews ash amid explosions

[Buster's Uncle]

Ecuador's Tungurahua volcano spews ash amid explosions
AFP
3 hours ago



Lava spewed by the Tungurahua volcano can be seen from the city of Pelileo, Ecuador, on February 1, 2014 (AFP Photo/)



Quito (AFP) - A series of explosions rocked Ecuador's Tungurahua volcano, spewing columns of ash into the air that reached as far as Quito.

Ash fall from the plumes was reported up to 130 kilometers (80 miles) north in the Ecuadoran capital, authorities said.

"There were five explosions of a moderate to large size, which sounded like heavy gunfire for several miles," director of the Geophysical Institute Mario Ruiz told the Gama TV channel.

Tungurahua, which in the Quechua language means "throat of fire," has been erupting since 1999.

Located in central Tungurahua province, it came rumbling to life again on Saturday, prompting the evacuation of hundreds of people from nearby villages.

Wind currents were carrying the ash in a northerly direction on Monday, but on Sunday ash fell as far south as the province of Loja, which borders Peru.

"Most volcanic ash is suspended in the atmosphere south of Quito," the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology said on Twitter Monday, as the country's Emergency Operations Committee met.

Ash fall was reported in multiple Tungurahua towns, security service ECU-911 said on its Twitter account, adding that seismic activity was "high."

Authorities have not reported any casualties or damage.

Authorities declared an emergency in high-risk areas in Tungurahua and Chimborazo provinces after Saturday's "significant activity."

Multiple villages are located in the vicinity of the volcano, which stands at 5,029 meters (16,500 feet).

The volcano took its greatest toll in 2006, when a Chimborazo village was destroyed by lava, killing six people.


http://news.yahoo.com/ecuador-39-tungurahua-volcano-spews-ash-amid-explosions-164342327.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Volcano's ash affects a third of Ecuador provinces
Associated Press
By GONZALO SOLANO  2 hours ago



QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — A cloud of ash that climbed more than 2.5-mile-high (4-kilometer) from Tungurahua volcano on Monday has affected a third of Ecuador's provinces and forced the suspension of classes at some schools after temporarily closing a regional airport.

A series of 10 powerful cannon-like blasts shook the 16,480-foot (5,023-meter) volcano overnight and could be heard for miles. Tungurahua is nearly 90 miles (140 kilometers) south of Quito.

Fernanda Naranjo of Ecuador's geophysics institute said there have been no pyroclastic flow — fast-moving, super-hot fluidized masses of rock fragments and gases— since Saturday.

One such flow halted less than a mile from a highway, according to a bulletin posted on the institute's website. But none has reached villages, where residents have been evacuating their homes during the nighttime, then returning during the day. The volcano resumed erupting late last week after being quiet since October.

In Monday's bulletin, the institute said it is likely that Tungurahua will continue to experience explosions and produce small and moderate pyroclastic flows. It also said continued adverse health effects and more disruptions of air travel were possible.

On Sunday, ash from Tungurahua forced the closure for several hours Sunday of the Mariscal Lamar airport in Cuenca, Ecuador's third-largest city.

The government called for voluntary evacuations of hundreds of people living near Tungurahua, officials distributed masks to protect them against the inhalation of ash.

Tungurahua has been erupting sporadically since 1999. In 2006, a pyroclastic cloud killed four people and left two missing.


http://news.yahoo.com/volcano-39-ash-affects-third-ecuador-provinces-191613992.html