Image copyright AFP Image caption The volcano erupted after a number of earthquakes opened up fissures

The Sierra Negra volcano on the Galapagos island of Isabela is spewing fountains of lava and plumes of ash.

Fifty people have been evacuated from the surrounding area and tourists have been barred from visiting it.

The eruption started after two strong earthquakes opened up fissures in the 1,124m-high (3688ft) volcano.

It comes 11 days after the Cumbre volcano, the most active on the Galapagos, erupted on the uninhabited island of Fernandina.

The Sierra Negra volcano is located on the south-eastern tip of Isabela, the largest of the 18 main islands which make up the Galapagos Archipelago.

The Galapagos which are located about 1,000km (621 miles) off the coast of Ecuador are one of the most volcanically active regions in the world.

Sierra Negra last erupted in 2005. Night-time photos showed lava flowing down to the sea.

Image copyright AFP

Image copyright AFP

The Galapagos National Park authorities said tourists would not be allowed near the volcano or the area of El Cura, but said they were welcome to visit the rest of the island.

Thousands of tourists visit the Galapagos Islands every year, drawn by its unique biodiversity and its pristine environment.

The variety of wildlife on the island famously inspired Charles Darwin to conceive the theory of evolution. </s> Mexico's Colima volcano erupts, forcing nearby communities to evacuate

Updated

Mexico's Colima volcano has erupted, spewing a large plume of ash and thick black smoke into the sky and forcing the evacuation of two nearby villages.

Chief of National Emergency Services, Luis Felipe Puente, said some 350 villagers living in the shadow of the volcano in the towns of La Yerbabuena and La Becerrera had been evacuated to a nearby shelter.

The volcano is located in western Mexico between the states of Colima and Jalisco, about 500 kilometres from Mexico City.

It is one of the most active volcanoes in the country and Central America.

Colima, also known as fuego — or fire — has had more than 30 periods of eruption since 1585, including several significant eruptions in the late 1990s.

Scientific monitoring of the volcano began 20 years ago.

Reuters

Topics: volcanic-eruption, mexico

First posted </s> Mayon volcano spews ash as it erupts anew Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2018 as seen from Legazpi city, Albay province, southeast of Manila, Philippines. (Associated Press)

LEGAZPI (PHILIPPINES): The Philippines' most active volcano spewed fountains of red-hot lava and massive ash plumes anew Tuesday in a dazzling but increasingly dangerous eruption that has sent more than 56,000 villagers fleeing to evacuation centers.

Lava fountains gushed up 700 meters (2,300 feet) above Mount Mayon's crater and ash plumes rose up to 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) Monday night. At least three major blasts followed Tuesday, including an explosion at nightfall that was capped by one of the most massive lava displays since the volcano started acting up more than a week ago, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.

"We couldn't sleep last night because of the loud rumblings. It sounded like an airplane that's about to land," Quintin Velardo, a 59-year-old farmer, told The Associated Press at an evacuation center in Legazpi city where he took his wife, children and grandchildren on Tuesday.

Despite the danger, he said he needed to return to his village, about 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the erupting volcano, to take his cow and water buffalo to safety. A few minutes later, the volcano belched a massive column of grayish ash that punched through white clouds into the blue sky.

"There it goes again," Velardo said, his family huddled near him.

Authorities warned a violent eruption may occur in hours or days, characterized by more rumblings and pyroclastic flows — superheated gas and volcanic debris that race down the slopes at high speeds, vaporizing everything in their path.

After Monday's explosion, officials raised Mayon's alert level to four on a scale of five, and the danger zone was expanded to 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the crater, requiring thousands more residents to be evacuated, including at least 12,000 who returned to their homes last week as Mayon's rumblings temporarily eased and then scrambled back to the emergency shelters this week.

At least 56,217 people were taking shelter in 46 evacuation camps Tuesday and army troops and police were helping move more villagers from their homes, officials said.

Authorities struggled to prevent villagers from sneaking back to check on their homes and farms and to watch a popular cockfight in Albay's Santo Domingo town despite the risks and police patrols and checkpoints, said Cedric Daep, a provincial disaster response official.

In a sign of desperation, Daep told a news conference that he has recommended electricity and water supplies be cut in communities within the no-go zones to discourage residents from returning.

"If pyroclastic flows hit people, there is no chance for life," Daep said. "Let us not violate the natural law, avoid the prohibited zone, because if you violate, the punishment is the death penalty."

The daytime eruptions have plunged nearby villages into darkness and sent lava, rocks and debris cascading down Mayon's slopes toward the no-entry danger zone. There have been no reports of deaths or injuries. Airplanes have been ordered to stay away from the crater and ash-laden winds, and several domestic flights have been canceled.

Volcanic ash fell Monday in more than a dozen towns in coconut-growing Albay and nearby Camarines Sur province, with visibility heavily obscured in a few towns because of the thick gray ash, Jukes Nunez, another Albay provincial disaster response officer, said by telephone.

"It was like night time at noon, there was zero visibility in some areas because the ash fall was so thick," Nunez said.

More than 30,000 ash masks and about 5,000 sacks of rice, along with medicine, water and other supplies, were being sent to evacuation centers, Office of Civil Defense regional director Claudio Yucot said late Monday.

Food packs, water, medicine and other relief goods remain adequate but may run out by mid-February if the eruption continues and new supplies fail to come on time, officials said.

With its near-perfect cone, Mayon has long been popular with climbers and tourists but has erupted about 50 times in the last 500 years, sometimes violently. The 8,070-foot (2,460-meter) volcano has generated tourism revenues and jobs in Albay, about 340 kilometers (210 miles) southeast of Manila.

In 2013, an ash eruption killed five climbers who had ventured near the summit despite warnings. Its most destructive eruption, in 1814, killed more than 1,200 people and buried the town of Cagsawa in volcanic mud. The belfry of Cagsawa's stone church still juts from the ground in an eerie reminder of Mayon's fury.

Since childhood, Velardo, the farmer, said he has gambled his and his family's lives in Mayon's shadow but that he and thousands of other landless farmers have no place else to go. "I tell my grandchildren to study hard so they can live elsewhere without a volcano to keep an eye on all your life."

The Philippines, which has about 22 active volcanoes, lies in the "Ring of Fire," a line of seismic faults surrounding the Pacific Ocean where earthquakes and volcanic activity are common.

In 1991, Mount Pinatubo in the northern Philippines exploded in one of the biggest volcanic eruptions of the 20th century, killing about 800 people, covering entire towns and cities in ash and partly prompting the U.S. government to abandon its vast air and naval bases on the main northern Luzon island. </s> Image copyright Carmelo Saia Image caption Tourists watch the explosion from a beach on the island of Lipari

A volcano has erupted on the Italian island of Stromboli, killing one person and sending frightened tourists fleeing.

The victim is a male hiker who was hit by a falling stone, while other people were injured.

The navy has been deployed for a possible mass evacuation, with 70 people already evacuated.

The volcano is one of the most active on the planet and has been under a regular state of eruption since 1932.

"Unfortunately one man is dead, there are a few injured, but none seriously," emergency worker Calogero Foti told Italy's Rai television.

The victim was a 35-year-old man from Sicily who was hiking when the volcano erupted twice. His Brazilian friend was discovered dehydrated and in a state of shock, the AGI news agency reported.

Image copyright EPA Image caption Ash rising from Stromboli after the eruption

Firefighters are battling flames on the island.

"We saw the explosion from the hotel. There was a loud roar," said Michela Favorito, who works in a hotel on the island.

"We plugged our ears and after this a cloud of ash swept over us. The whole sky is full of ash, a fairly large cloud," she said.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Columns of ash rise from the eruption of the volcano on the Italian island of Stromboli.

Fiona Carter, a British tourist on the island of Panarea, some 17 miles from Stromboli, heard the eruption.

"We turned around to see a mushroom cloud coming from Stromboli. Everyone was in shock. Then red hot lava started running down the mountain towards the little village of Ginostra," she said.

Image copyright AFP Image caption View of the volcano from the nearby island of Panarea

Holidaymakers were reported to have run into the sea after seeing ash rising from the volcano. The island is a popular location for holiday homes of the rich and famous.

Stromboli is known as the "Lighthouse of the Mediterranean" and has a population of around 500. The last major eruption was in 2002, when a blast destroyed local buildings and piers, injuring six. </s> Volcanoes Campi Flegrei in Italy, Sakurajima in Japan, Pavlof in Alaska, Popocatépetl in Mexico and Iturrialba in Costa Rica among others showed signs of reawakening in the last semester of 2016,Throughout history, volcanoes have inspired fear and admiration as well. Vesubio (Italy), Mount Tambora (Indonesia), Laki (Iceland), Mount St. Hellen (USA) and Nevado del Ruiz (Colombia) are just some of the volcanoes that have ravaged entire populations in different periods of time, killing thousands of people and turning vast areas into a desert of fire, ashes and sulfuric gases. But, strange as it may sound, volcano activity has become an item of the so-called eco/adventure tourism, thanks to the unmatched, unique spectacle of lights and sound that offers a moderated eruption.According to experts, it takes 500 years for a supervolcano to reawaken, even less. And this seems to be the case of Campli Flegrei in the west of Naples, Italy, an extensive volcanic that boasts 24 craters and its cauldron-like depression was formed 39,000 years before as part of the biggest eruption that Europe has experienced in the last 200,000 years.A team of researchers led by volcanologist Giovanni Chiodini from the Italian National Institute of Geophysics in Rome assures thata sign that could be read as announcing of an imminent eruption. The research team says that Campi Flegrai has registered an "uplift" since the last decade, what it means that the volatile gasses inside are rising to the surface at an unexpected rate, turning the alert level from green (or quiet) to yellow (or monitoring mode).Another colossus, Sakurajima volcano at Japan's Kyushu island, had a 'bad awakening' last April 29after that two earthquakes shook that Asian country, daily Asahi said. Again, a team of experts considered, a growing potential to trigger an eruption within 30 years - or much less. Sakurajima volcano's last deadly eruption occurred in 1914 with a toll of 58 dead, gaining the infamous nickname of the Naples of the Eastern World.The American continent doesn't escape from this latent risk. Consider Pavlof volcano in Aleutian islands, Alaska, that erupted last March 28. Since its burst, police, and geological service has kept the alert about "risk of air and land pollution".causing no injuries nor damages.Similar moments of fear and confusion lived people of Puebla, Mexico, when the giant of fire Popocatepetl awoke with a concert of explosions and fume columns, daily El País reported in its March 19edition. Last new of its activity was made last December 1when Puebla's International Airport was reopened after being closed due to falling ash from the volcano. Mexico's National Center for Disaster Prevention informed thatCosta Rica, land of well-reputed volcanoes that attract thousands of visitors each year, is not novelty the news about fumes columns, ash rain or eviction alerts. Nevertheless, Turrialba, the biggest of its volcanoes, started to spew smoke and ash 9,840 feet into the sky last May 21, causing breathing difficulties to hundreds of people who required medical attention.In fact, operations of main Costa Rican Airport should be suspended on September 21after a Turrialba's eruption sent a thick cloud of ashes and poisonous gasses, urging local residents to wear protective masks in order to undertake their daily tasks. This trend of Turrialba's sporadic ashes-spewing has kept until December 2016.It is important to remember that Turrialba volcano registered its last 'big' eruption in October 29, 2014, a night to remember for hundreds of local residents who were urged to flee their homes as a security measure after a rain of fume and heavy ashes came out of its crater. According to recent researches, that event would be mainly responsible for a rise in 10 meters of its central crater in the last two years and increased by the eruptive activity between September-November of 2016. Last reports say that Turrialba has kept "a passive but constant activity", adding that volcanic movement was registered on December 25The main answer, though, is what people must do? Should nearby residents from volcanic areas panic? Unfortunately, there is nothing they can do but being alert and attend to the authority's recommendations. "In general, volcanology is not a precise science. We have many uncertainties and long-term provisions are at the moment not possible! For example, the process that we describe could evolve in both directions: toward pre-eruptive conditions or to the finish of the volcanic unrest, Giovanni Chiodini warns.In this respect Costa Rica boasts a very complete Emergency Plan of Action for Volcanic Eruption, created on March 23th 2015 by International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies with the aim of mapping the areas of risk around Turrialba volcano in order to increase the number of response strategies at the moment of an imminent major eruption, as well as to raise awareness among the communities' members with regards to risks and hazards, acknowledging evacuation routes and encouraging the creation of volunteers' helping groups. </s> GUATEMALA — Guatemala’s Fuego volcano erupted, killing at least 25 people and leaving residents covered in ash as they fled from billowing plumes.

The volcanic eruption Sunday spewed a river of red hot lava and belched thick clouds of smoke nearly six miles into the air, according to the CONRED, the government agency for disaster reduction. Ashen remnants covered neighborhoods.

In addition to the fatalities, 20 others were injured, CONRED said.

Survivors described the horror and destruction when the volcano erupted.

“Not everyone escaped, I think they were buried,” Consuelo Hernandez said in a video released by CONRED. “We saw the lava was pouring through the corn fields and we ran toward a hill.”

Hernandez told officials from the disaster agency that some of her relatives were buried. Images from the scene showed a firefighter weeping.

More than 3,100 people have been evacuated while search and rescue efforts continue into the night, said Sergio García Cabañas, director of the disaster agency. The explosion will affect 1.7 million people.

Authorities urged residents living near the volcano to evacuate immediately, and warned some in Chimaltenango, Sacatepequez and Escuintla states to watch out for volcanic rocks and ash.

Residents were told to avoid roads close to the volcano and ensure water is not contaminated.

At least 15 people have been hospitalized, including 12 children, some of whom suffered severe burns, the health ministry said.

The eruption officially ended late Sunday, according to the Guatemala’s National Institute of Seismology, Vulcanology, Meteorology and Hydrology.

“The eruption … is reaching its end with 14.763 feet of ash and weak-to-moderate explosions and incandescence in its crater,” it said in a statement.

But it warned there could be new eruptions, and residents in the surrounding areas should be on alert for mudslides containing volcanic material. Volcanic ash had spread in a 12-mile radius and winds could carry the cloud even farther, officials said.

Guatemala is situated on the “Ring of Fire,” an area of intense seismic activity.

The 40,000-kilometer (25,000-mile) area stretches from the boundary of the Pacific Plate and the smaller plates such as the Philippine Sea plate to the Cocos and Nazca Plates that line the edge of the Pacific Ocean.

Volcan de Fuego, which means fire volcano, is one of Central America’s most active.

It is near the colonial city of Antigua. Sunday’s explosion rained soot over the popular tourist destination and other villages in the Sacatepéquez state, covering them in ash.

Villages south of the volcano in the Escuintla department were affected, too, Cabañas said. Some ash reached the capital of Guatemala City about 25 miles away, forcing the closure of its international airport. The Guatemalan army shared images of officers clearing the runway with push brooms.

“All our solidarity and support to the President Jimmy Morales and the Guatemalan people for the loss of human life after the eruption of the volcano of Fire.”

The President of El Salvador offered his condolences via Twitter and said his country stood ready to assist its neighbor.

Israel’s Ambassador to Guatemala and the Mayor of Puerto Rico also expressed their solidarity. </s> The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology has recorded a volcanic earthquake on the Mayon Volcano in southeastern Luzon, a day after warning locals to avoid areas close to the active dome due to "abnormal activity".

The warning to the residents of Legazpi city of Albay province, located in the northern Philippines' Luzon island, came after the volcano's monitoring network detected an earthquake in the past 24 hours as well as the emission of white steam plumes and sulfur dioxide emissions indicating that magma is moving up from underneath the volcano.

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 "Phreatic explosion may happen anytime but a big explosion is expected in the coming days," said PHILVOCS resident volcanologist Eduardo Laguerta, who noted that a similar "period of unrest" had occurred before a previous Mayon eruption.

The volcano's last eruption in September 2014 forced more than 58,000 people to flee their homes.

Mayon is one of the most well known of the Philippines' 18 active volcanoes. </s> (CNN) The Philippines' most active volcano has begun erupting again, after thousands of people on the main island of Luzon were earlier forced to evacuate.

A photo of Mayon volcano published late Monday local time by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) showed lava flows pouring down its side and a large plume of fiery smoke above the summit.

Authorities on Sunday upgraded the alert level at the Mayon volcano in the southern part of Luzon to "level 3" after observing steam eruptions and a bright lava glow.

As many as 3,000 villagers fled their homes while the volcano spewed ash, according to CNN affiliate CNN Philippines.

PHIVOLCS issued the alert indicating an "increased tendency towards hazardous eruption" after three steam-driven eruptions and dozens of rockfalls on Sunday afternoon.

A "bright crater glow" at the summit crater indicates "the growth of a new lava dome and beginnings of lava flow towards the southern slopes," the agency said.

Mayon Volcano raising to Alert Level 3 pic.twitter.com/3RJMj8TZRR — PHIVOLCS-DOST (@phivolcs_dost) January 14, 2018

The agency recommended creating an 11 km (7 mile) danger zone around the volcano to mitigate against "rockfalls, landslides and sudden explosions or dome collapse."

The tweet also advised pilots not to fly near the summit since ash could be hazardous to aircraft.

The last time Mayon erupted, the volcano exhibited similar activity beforehand, PHIVOLCS Director Renato Solidum told CNN Philippines.

Over the weekend, authorities ordered the evacuation of areas at the foot of the volcano. More than 900 families from 16 neighborhoods in the vicinity of the volcano were moved to shelters in neighboring towns, CNN Philippines quoted the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Coordinating Council (NDRRMC) as reporting.

However, Solidum added that the activity so far may not lead to an explosive eruption.

"Sometimes this eruption activity need not really result (in) very explosive eruptions. Sometimes it would result (in) non-explosive eruptions where lava would ooze out of the crater, but not explode," Solidum said.

Active volcano

Situated on the island of Luzon, about 330 kilometers (205 miles) southeast of Manila, Mayon is one of the world's most active volcanoes.

Since 1616, the imposing stratovolcano has erupted 47 times, with many of the explosions causing deadly mudflows and ash falls.

In 2014, thousands of residents were ordered to evacuate the same area after a "critical" alert was issued, while in 2013, five climbers died when they were hit by falling rocks thrown up by a particularly violent blast.

The volcano's most devastating eruption took place in 1814 when at least 1,200 people were killed. </s> LEGAZPI CITY: Mayon, the volcano with the perfect cone, is just starting to unleash her fury, Eduardo Laguerta, Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) resident chief volcanologist said.

“What we saw on Monday and on Tuesday is just a start and a prelude to stronger explosive eruptions,” Laguerta said.

As this developed, the provincial government of Albay on Tuesday imposed alert level 5 contingency measures following threats of pyroclastic flow.

The 2,460-meter (8,070-feet) iconic landmark of Bicolandia has been letting off steam since last week and spewed ash on Monday and Tuesday with four to five-hour lulls in between.

Laguerta, who has been monitoring Mayon for almost 40 years, said Monday’s eruption was denser than the 9 a.m. explosion on Tuesday.

“Tuesday’s episode of explosion is just starting so we don’t know how long the eruptions will last but you see a series of pyroclastic flow. At least we have the element of time. Mayon is the most active volcano and is continuously replenishing her magma,” Laguerta added.

Phivolcs raised the volcano’s alert level to 4 on Monday after two successive 10-kilometer cauliflower-type ash columns billowed in the sky, generating heavy ashfall in the towns of Camalig and Guinobatan as well as Ligao City.

“If we go back to the historical eruptions of Mayon, the ash columns before was darker than today’s. That’s why we are looking closely at the parameters of Mayon but we’re not discounting the possibility that Mayon’s present activity may lead to a bigger and stronger explosion,” he said.

Laguerta said Phivolcs scientists are working together to scrutinize Mayon’s activity.

For the past 24 hours since Monday, Mayon’s vibration and rumbling sounds were getting stronger and were heard as far as 15 to 16 kilometers away from its slopes.

Lagueta said Phivolcs is looking at whether the parameters Mayon is showing now is similar to that of the 1897 eruption where the pyroclastic flow reached as far as the shoreline of Santo Domingo.

“From 1897 to 2018 it’s been more than a century when the longest ‘pangiriti-ngiti oson’ [pyroclastic flow]occurred that destroyed the town of Santo Domingo. The 1984 eruption also appeared to be very quiet with a weeklong lull before the sustained explosive eruptions then took place for a week,” he said.

Pyroclastic flow also known as a pyroclastic density current is a fast-moving current of hot gas and volcanic materials about 1,200 degrees celcius with a speed of up to 700km per hour.

As the provincial government of Albay imposed alert level 5, Cedric Daep, Albay Public Safety Emergency Management Office (Apsemo) chief, said they also imposed a nine-kilometer extended danger zone (EDZ).

“We did this so there will at least be a one kilometer buffer zone to prevent residents from going back to their communities in the wake of Mayon’s erratic character,” he said.

Mayon’s ash plumes drifted toward the villages of Legazpi City, Daraga and Camalig towns in the second district and in the municipality of Guinobatan and Ligao City in third district.

The heavy ashfall badly affected the southwest portion of the volcano covering Camalig, Guinobatan and Ligao City with a dark blanket of ash owing to the seasonal wind pattern.

 Daep reiterated that the no man’s land must be avoided as disaster officials will no longer conduct rescue measures once a pyroclastic flow occurrs even in the extended nine-km EDZ.

They also recommended to Albay Power Energy Corp. to cut power supply in areas within the no man’s land to discourage people from returning to their houses in the area.

Following the imposition of the extended zone, tens of thousands of residents in Santo Domingo, Daraga, Camalig, Guinobatan, including the cities of Legazpi and Ligao were again directed to evacuate.
Sierra Negra erupts on the island of Isabela, the largest island of the Galápagos archipelago. Authorities have arranged evacuations and banned tourists from the area.