Ecuador’s Tungurahua volcano unleashes violent explosion

April 30, 2011 – Banos, Ecuador — Tungurahua Volcano spews ash as high as 10km (33,000-feet) into the air, triggering residents to evacuate and officials to divert flights. Known as “Throat of Fire,” Tungurahua is one of eight active volcanoes in Ecuador.  Ecuador’s “Throat of Fire” volcano erupted today spewing ash that forced hundreds of residents to flee, authorities said. Loud explosions shook the ground and rattled windows near the volcano, known as Tungurahua in the indigenous Quechua language, 81 miles southeast of Quito, officials said. Vulcanologist Silvana Hidalgo said scientists are carefully monitoring the situation and have detected a small dip in activity. “In these last few hours, what we’ve registered is a small decrease in volcanic activity regarding the energy with which the columns are expelled,” she said. Officials in the area said hundreds of families had evacuated, some voluntarily, while Ecuador’s aviation authorities closed the airport in coastal Guayaquil and altered the routes of some flights to avoid the ash cloud. Baños, a town popular with foreign and local tourists, was among the places evacuated voluntarily, officials said. Tungurahua, a 16,500 ft volcano, has been classed as active since 1999 and had a strong eruption in 2008. It is one of eight active volcanoes in Ecuador. –Dig Triad

Update: Eruptions growing more violent– Ecuador’s Tungurahua volcano hurled lorry-sized pyroclastic boulders more than a mile in a powerful eruption that prompted at least 300 people to flee their homes, authorities said. “The smallest blocks are that size of an automobile while the biggest reach the size of a truck, which cause impact craters up to 10 meters (33 feet) wide as they hit the flanks,” the scientist, Silvana Hidalgo, told The Associated Press. Schools were closed for a third straight day as ash showered down on a dozen towns in the sparsely populated area surrounding the 16,480-foot volcano. Thundering explosions could be heard miles from Tungurahua, which is on the Andes cordillera 84 miles southeast of Ecuador’s capital, Quito. –Daily Mail