Posted on 11/03/2002 9:38:43 PM PST by HAL9000
Emergency State in the area of the volcano El Reventador entered in eruption
Monday November 04, 2002 - 4h28 GMT
QUITO, Nov. 3 (AFP) - the emergency state was issued in the area of the volcano El Reventador, the North-East of Ecuador, was entered in eruption Sunday, and whose falls of ashes caused the suspension of the air traffic with Quito, but without making any victim.
This alarm clock of El Reventador ("the destructor"), which culminates to 3.562 m of altitude, to 180 km in the North-East of the capital, caused a release of ashes and gas until an altitude of 15 km, and the formation of an opaque cloud of 20.000 km2 on the north of the Andean country, specified with the AFP Hugo Yepez, director of the geophysical Institute of Quito.
The eruption did not make any victim, indicated the Red Cross to the AFP. By precaution, the few 1.500 inhabitants of the neighbourhoods of the volcano were evacuated, just as 600 workmen working with the construction of a pipeline.
The state urgently announced by the authorities envisages the availability of the populations, affected by the repercussions of ashes on their cultures, of the assistances necessary of the State, indicated the secretary to the Communication of the presidency, Oscar Zuloaga. It did not specify which would be the rising one of this financial support.
All the flights were suspended on the airport of Quito because of the repercussions of ashes on the capital, and the transcontinental flights were deviated on the town of Guayaquil, to 275 km in south-west, announced the direction of the civil aviation (DAC).
This activation of the crater caused "lava flows and expulsions of rocks", indicated on its side the police force of Ecuador, country which counts 99 volcanos.
El Reventador overhangs the locality of San Francisco, between Amazonia and the Andes cordillera. Its last eruption goes back to 1976.
Two other volcanos, Guagua Pichincha, to 10 km in the west of Quito, and Tungurahua, to 140 km in the south, had also entered in eruption at the end
Last 3 October, 1.200 ha of cultures had been shaved by ashes with the foot of Tungurahua, of an altitude of 5.030 m, after a strong explosion the day before in its crater.
Quito Covered in Ash by Volcanic Eruption
QUITO, Ecuador (Reuters) - Ecuador's El Reventador volcano erupted on Sunday, covering the capital Quito with thick ash that sparked health warnings and forced the airport to close indefinitely, authorities said.
Although there were no known fatalities from the avalanche of burning rock, health officials warned the city's 1.4 million inhabitants to stay indoors because of the danger of inhaling ash from the volcano about 60 miles to the east.
"Stay calm and don't leave your homes ... If you have to leave, please cover your nose and mouth with a damp cloth," said Col. Miguel Flores, civil defense chief for the Quito area, describing the ash as harmful if inhaled.
Juan Neira, manager of Quito's water company, told Reuters the company was studying the possible impact of ash contaminating drinking water. "We are in an emergency situation," he said.
El Reventador, an 11,683-foot peak in Ecuador's Amazon jungle whose name in Spanish means "the bursting one," began erupting at 7 a.m. (same EST) -- shooting a mushroom cloud nine miles into the sky.
Gases, ash and rock swept down the sides of the volcano, charring the jungle peak, darkening the mid-day skies and coating roads with cream-colored soot.
Red Cross officials said some 3,000 people living near the base of the volcano fled early in morning, as El Reventador slowly came to life, rumbling and emitting strong-smelling sulfur gases which acted as an natural alarm. Two people suffered burns as they tried to rescue belongings from their house.
Officials warned El Reventador could erupt again soon.
"I think this eruption is going to affect us in the coming days and in addition, it isn't a single event, but a volcanic process," said the director of Ecuador's Geophysical Institute, Hugo Yepez.
As the ash rolled over Quito, turning the sky a hazy pink, Sunday soccer games were scrapped and thousands of people emptied from a massive city park as parents swept their children off the streets and into homes.
The few people remaining on the roads carried umbrellas and covered their mouths with their shirt sleeves to avoid inhaling flakes of ash that fell like snow.
The city's airport was shut down indefinitely because of the damage the ash would do to aircraft engines. Regional air traffic control centers were alerted to direct aircraft clear of the ash cloud, Yepez said.
Quito was previously covered in ash three years ago when the nearby Guagua Pichincha volcano erupted. El Reventador's last eruption was in 1976.
"Nobody likes this (ash)," said Quito taxi driver Milton Romero, who turned on his headlights to help him navigate hazy streets. "But it's better than if it were a lava eruption."
A cloud of ash more than 15 kilometers high rises from the El Reventador volcano, 3,562 meters above sea level and 59 miles east of the Ecuadorian capital, Quito, as seen from an airplane window, November 3, 2002. A burning cloud of gases, ash and rocks rolled down the sides of the volcano, charring the jungle peak, during the early morning eruption in Ecuador's Amazon jungle near the heart of its oil industry. This is the first eruption since 1976. Photo by Reuters
An Ecuadorian couple walks in a rain of ashes on a road leaving Quito, November 3, 2002. Ecuador's El Reventador volcano erupted on Sunday spewing a tall mushroom cloud and fiery ash and gases, but no victims were reported, authorities said. Photo by Guillermo Granja/Reuters
A view of Quito covered by white ashes from Reventador volcano 59 miles (95 kilometers) northeast of the capital on the eastern slope of the Andes, in Quito, Ecuador Sunday, Nov. 3, 2002. The volcano erupted Sunday spewing a cloud of hot ash into the air that forced the closure of the airport and a highway near the capital.(AP Photo/Patricio Realpe)
Now that's really scary....
No. Earthquakes and volcanos are common.
You two are hellbent to destroy what's left of Calif after Gov Doofus is finished with us peons.
I'm in California...waiting.
Not so common that we have to consolidate all the threads into a daily disaster thread just to maintain order.
Nah, just waiting for my beach front property.
If Cali goes, so does FR.
FR won't go away. We'll just build a beach front resort there and have a Freepin good time.
You're just worried you'll end up in Alaska.
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