The tiny South Pacific nation of Vanuatu has ordered the complete evacuation of its northern island of Ambae as a volcano has begun erupting. Manaro Voui began emitting ash, smoke and steam over the weekend, triggering concerns of an imminent major eruption.

Residents were being assisted by aid agency Red Cross at evacuation centres on the eastern side of the island, before the government ordered all inhabitants to move to the nearby islands of Maewo, Pentecost and Santo. Boats have begun ferrying residents off Ambae, which is home to about 11,000 people, in a process expected to take about a week.

The activity measure of the volcano was raised last weekend to Level 4, on a scale in which Level 5 represents a major eruption. Geological experts warned of "flying rocks and volcanic gas", acid rain, and ash falls. New Zealand's military flew a plane over the volcano on Tuesday (26 September), and said huge columns of smoke, ash and volcanic rocks were billowing from the crater. The last time Manaro Voui erupted was in 2005.

Even if Manaro Voui does not going into a major eruption, aid workers fear the spread of volcanic ash across the island will cause long-term harm to locals, who are almost entirely reliant on locally grown produce for food.

Ambae is one of about 65 inhabited islands in the Pacific nation about one-quarter of the way from Australia to Hawaii. Vanuatu, home to about 260,000 people, is on the geologically active Pacific Ring of Fire and its Tana island active volcano is a major tourist attraction.

The move comes after authorities in Bali warned of a potentially imminent eruption of its highest volcano on Mount Agung, forcing more than 75,000 people from their homes. </s> Vanuatu's Council of Ministers has declared a state of emergency on Ambae due to the island's volcano spewing so much ash the island is becoming uninhabitable.

It is planning another mass evacuation.

Reports from the island say houses and trees are collapsing due to the weight of the ash while many locals have suffered a raft of health issues.

There has been increased activity from the Manaro Voui crater on Mt Lombenben for the past month, although the mountain remained active since last September's major eruption.

Photo: RNZ Pacific

The director general of Vanuatu's Ministry of Climate Change and Natural Disaster, Jesse Benjamin, said people would be evacuated in a more orderly fashion compared to last time, with those from severely affected parts moved first.

"For the state of emergency of Ambae it's actually because of the heavy ashfall on all parts of Ambae," Mr Benjamin said.

"And it is so thick that you know that their vegetation is affected, their water has been contaminated and people are struggling to get food from the garden because there's been heavy ashfall on most every part of Ambae," he said.

Around 11,000 people returned to the island after last year's mandatory evacuation which was done amid fears there would be a bigger eruption.

How the evacuation will be undertaken is now being discussed by a taskforce.

It is likely to involve people being moved to the nearby islands of Maewo and Pentecost. </s> Villagers on the Vanuatu island of Ambae were facing their second evacuation in seven months Friday after a volcano rumbled back to life and rained ash on their homes.

Authorities in the Pacific nation have declared a state of emergency on the northern island, where 11,000 people were forced to leave last September.

Many have only just returned home but the Vanuatu Meteorology and Geo-Hazards Department said the Manaro Voui volcano was undergoing a level three eruption, the mid-point in a five-level scale.

National disaster ministry director general Jesse Benjamin said any evacuation would be more orderly than the one carried out in September, when a flotilla of small vessels were pressed into service to rush people off the island.

"Last year's evacuation was conducted in haste, amidst fears of a major eruption," he told the Daily Post newspaper.

"There is some dissatisfaction about the way we moved people at the time. This time we will be evacuating people from the severely affected communities first, before the less affected.

"The government is worried about the safety of the people."

Vanuatu, which has a population of about 280,000 spread over 65 inhabited islands, is regarded as one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world.

It sits on the so-called "Pacific Rim of Fire" making it vulnerable to strong earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, while powerful cyclones also regularly lash the islands. </s> A state of emergency has been declared for Vanuatu's Ambae Island as a volcano continues to spill thick heavy ash.

Thousands of residents who call the island home have been warned they may need to evacuate after up to 1cm of ash has fallen in some areas north of the island on Tuesday night.

The situation was described as 'becoming critical in some areas' and national EMT coordinator Dr Basil Leodoro told Vanuatu Daily Post they had 'received reports of houses collapsing due to the weight of the ash.'

Medical assistance teams arrived on the island on Thursday to 'provide medical support...sanitation, surveillance and public health services support to the people of Ambae,' Dr Leodoro said.

'I am confirming that heavy ash fall has caused skin and eye irritations, and exacerbated breathing conditions like asthma,' continued Dr Leodoro.

'We are also working very closely with our disease surveillance teams to monitor reported cases of Mumps, acute gastroenteritis and dengue in all Ambae residents but particularly those at evacuation centres,' he said. </s> (CNN) Thousands of people have been evacuated on the Indonesian island of Bali and on Ambae island in Vanuatu as two volcanoes threaten to erupt.

The entire population of Ambae is being moved from the path of the "increasingly active" Marano volcano, also known as Lombenben, according to the Pacific nation's government.

On the Indonesian island of Bali, more than 134,000 people have been taken to shelters as authorities warn that Mount Agung, in the island's north, could erupt at any time.

Both volcanoes sit on the Pacific Ring of Fire , an area of intense seismic activity that stretches 40,000 kilometers (25,000 miles) from New Zealand to South America.

That they're showing signs of erupting at the same time is pure coincidence, said Benjamin Andrews, of the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program.

Vanuatu's Ambae island hasn't been evacuated on this scale since an alert in 2005, Minister of Land and Natural Resources Ralph Regenvanu told CNN.

Most of the island's 11,000 residents are being taken away by boat, but some are also being airlifted to evacuation centers on Vanuatu's Pentecost and Maewo islands.

On Wednesday, a New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) aerial survey found "huge columns of smoke, ash and volcanic rocks billowing from the crater of an erupting volcano" on the island, according to a press release from the agency.

The alert level is at 4, the second highest on the scale. "Ambae volcano is in an ongoing moderate eruption state," a statement from Vanuatu Meteorology and Geohazards Department said. People in local villages could experience the danger of flying rocks, volcanic gases and acid rain, the statement added.

"The principle concerns here are that the volcano can eject volcanic rocks to distances of many kilometers from the crater, and that the volcano could erupt ash and/or emit sulfur dioxide," said Andrews, from the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program..

Australia had responded to a request for assistance, pledging up to 20.5 million Vatu ($190,000) in "much-needed supplies like food, water, shelter and hygiene kits for affected communities on Ambae," a Vanuatu government statement said Thursday.

Australia was also funding surveillance flights over the volcanoes on Ambae and nearby Ambrym island, it added.

In Bali, residents are still being moved outside an exclusion zone that stretches 12 kilometers from the center of Mount Agung.

More than 134,000 are living in evacuation centers, sleeping on floors and waiting for something to happen.

"It's been six days since we are here, we want to go home," said Wayan, 65, who like many Indonesians only goes by one name. He evacuated with this elderly mother, wife, children and young grandchild to the Swecapura sports arena.

Wayan also fled his home back when Mount Agung last erupted in 1963. Back then, there was no evacuation plan, people just "ran to save themselves," he said. More than 1,700 people were killed and many villages destroyed.

This time, 447 temporary shelters have been set up outside the exclusion zone around the volcano, according to the National Disaster Management Agency.

Ngurah Rai International Airport remains open but is on alert in case of ash disruption, and there are plans to bus people to other airports, if needed.

Seismic activity continues in the volcano and the alert level for an eruption has been raised to 4, the highest warning level on the Indonesian scale. </s> Photo: RNZ / Shaun O'Callaghan

Nearly 200 people around Efate, the main island in Vanuatu, have been moved to evacuation centres because of flooding caused by Cyclone Cook.

The category two cyclone has brought widespread and strong winds to Vanuatu over the past 24 hours.

Peter Korisa at the Vanuatu National Disaster Management Office in Port Vila says they have not been able to restore communications with the outer islands but he says there is extensive flooding on Efate.

He says they have moved close to 200 people into evacuation shelters because their houses were in flood prone areas.

Mr Korisa says these numbers will rise if the rain continues.

Cyclone Cook, which is expected to intensify, is now moving towards New Caledonia.

Current projections have it hitting New Caledonia directly on Monday afternoon. </s> Story highlights Everyone on Ambae island to be evacuated as volcanic activity increases

More than 144,000 have been evacuated around Mount Agung in Bali

(CNN) Thousands of people have been evacuated on the Indonesian island of Bali and on Ambae island in Vanuatu as two volcanoes threaten to erupt.

The entire population of Ambae is being moved from the path of the "increasingly active" Manaro volcano, also known as Lombenben, according to the Pacific nation's government.

On the Indonesian island of Bali, more than 144,000 people have been taken to shelters as authorities warn that Mount Agung, in the island's north, could erupt at any time.

Both volcanoes sit on the Pacific Ring of Fire , an area of intense seismic activity that stretches 40,000 kilometers (25,000 miles) from New Zealand to South America.

That they're showing signs of erupting at the same time is pure coincidence, said Benjamin Andrews, of the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program.

Read More </s> Vanuatu faces yet another destructive storm, after the previous devastation brought about by Cyclone Pam. — Reuters picWELLINGTON, May 6 — The South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu began assessing the damage today after being pounded by destructive winds from Cyclone Donna which brought down houses and buildings.

The storm was upgraded late in the day to a category four severe tropical cyclone by the Vanuatu Meteorological Service which warned “damaging gale to destructive storm force winds” would continue to hit Torba province.

The eye of the cyclone veered away from Vanuatu before making landfall but Disaster Management Office director Shadrack Welegtabit said winds in excess of 200 kilometres per hour wreaked havoc in outlying islands.

“The cyclone has passed through and we have now started our response, doing an assessment of the damage and what people need,” he told AFP.

“It did not make landfall but the gale force winds affected some islands. There was damage to houses and buildings but we haven’t had any reports of injuries.”

A curfew was imposed in many of the populated islands on Friday with residents taking shelter in caves and evacuation centres until the storm passed.

Corrine Ambler from the Red Cross told Radio New Zealand they had made radio contact with Torres Islands in Torba where houses were destroyed.

“There’s about 1,000 in the affected area and I understand that almost 200 people are taking shelter in a cave in one of the islands,” she said.

Although Donna was tracking westwards towards New Caledonia said, the Meteorological Service said it would continue to impact on Vanuatu for another 24 hours.

“Heavy rainfall and flash flooding is also expected,” it said in an advisory to the small nation of about 260,000 people.

In 2015, when Cyclone Pam slammed into Vanuatu, 11 people were killed and more than 65,000 homes were damaged or destroyed affecting about 70 per cent of the population. — AFP </s> Residents of Vanuatu are taking shelter as a category four cyclone brings heavy rain and strong winds to the same area devastated by the largest cyclone in the South Pacific island nation’s history last year, aid workers said on Sunday. Disaster management authorities have issued a red alert for islands in Tafea, the southernmost of Vanuatu's six provinces, a spokesman of CARE Australia told Reuters.

"Most people are sheltering in schools and churches, the only permanent buildings on these islands," Sam Bolitho said. "Some people are also sheltering in caves."

The eye of the storm, Ula, is not expected to pass over any islands but the ring of the cyclone was causing damage, Bolitho said in an email.

Islanders are bracing for winds expected to reach up to 165 kmph (100 mph), besides flash flooding, landslides and storm surges. Last March, tropical cyclone Pam, a category 5 storm, the highest classification, wiped out more than 90 percent of Vanuatu's crops, tore up homes and power networks, killed 11 and disrupted the lives of most of its 252,800 people.

"This time, people are taking every possible precaution," said Inga Mepham, CARE's Vanuatu program director, adding that the aid agency was working with disaster authorities to spread the latest weather information and take precautionary measures.
Vanuatu plans another evacuation from Ambae Island due to volcanic activity from Manaro Voui.