Ecuador eruption La Cumbre volcano on an uninhabited island of the Galapagos. The La Cumbre volcano, located on the uninhabited island of Fernandina in the Galapagos archipelago, is erupting and projecting lava, Ecuadorian authorities announced on Sunday.
"The La Cumbre volcano is erupting this evening," Galapagos National Park (PNG) said in a statement.
"The ecological value of the island of Fernandina is very important because its ecosystems are home to unique species such as land and sea iguanas, snakes, endemic rats, cormorants and penguins," added PNG.
Ecuador eruption La Cumbre volcano
According to the same source, the 1,467-meter-high volcano has a crack along its south-eastern flank and "a lava flow descends to the coasts" of this island, one of the youngest in the archipelago.
An earthquake with a magnitude of 4.7 occurred at 4:42 p.m. (9:42 p.m. GMT), according to the local Ecuadorian Geophysical Institute. It was followed by 29 aftershocks of magnitude less than 3.1.
The previous volcano eruption occurred from June 16 to 18, 2018.
The Galapagos Archipelago takes its name from the giant turtles that live in the Ecuadorian Pacific, and are part of the biosphere reserve that was used by the English naturalist Charles Darwin to develop the theory of the evolution of species.
TRENDING: Philippine volcano: thousands of residents in uncertainty after their evacuation
The Taal volcano could continue for weeks to spew ash and lava south of Manila, authorities warned on Tuesday, which may prevent the return of thousands of people who have evacuated for fear of a large eruption. magnitude.
The volcano located 65 km from the capital woke up on Sunday, projecting a huge column of smoke into the sky and jets of glowing lava, causing the departure of many inhabitants of the nearby mountains.
When the authorities sounded a siren warning of the risk of an "explosive eruption", many hastily abandoned their cattle and pets, but also their homes and property.
And more than 30,000 people were now refugees in emergency shelters.
Gerald Aseoche, a 30-year-old house painter, left with his four young children and a few possessions. He now says he is unable to go to work, because that would mean leaving his children.
"I hope it will not last too long because I will lose my job if I do not go there immediately," he told AFP in an evacuation center.
"I can't leave them ... Family first," he added, holding one of his children in his arms.
- Majestic and terrifying -
The Taal volcano, which is in the middle of a crater lake in an area very popular with tourists, is one of the most active in an archipelago which is an area of intense seismic activity due to its position on the " Pacific Ring of Fire ".
Since Sunday, the volcano has offered a spectacle as majestic as it is terrifying, with impressive lightning sporadically above its summit, a phenomenon which is not fully explained by science but which is due to static electricity.
It is impossible to say how long this eruption will last, observed the director of the Volcanology and Seismology Institute of the Philippines (Phivolcs), Renato Solidum, recalling that the previous ones had sometimes lasted for months.
The alert warning of a potentially catastrophic "explosive eruption" risk could remain in place for weeks, depending on the evolution of field observations.
"We have a protocol that involves waiting several days, sometimes two weeks, to be sure that the activity of the volcano has stopped," he said.
The eruption began Sunday with an explosion of pressurized water vapor and rocks, with a column of smoke 15 kilometers high. A "rain" of ashes then fell on the region.
This has resulted in the temporary closure of the main Manila International Airport, and the cancellation of hundreds of flights. Tens of thousands of passengers were penalized.
Ninoy Aquino International Airport gradually resumed operations on Monday, but on Tuesday many passengers were still awaiting a flight.
The last eruption of Taal was in 1977, said Solidum.
The Pacific "Ring of Fire" designates these areas where the tectonic plates collide, causing earthquakes and regular volcanic activity.
In January 2018, tens of thousands of people had to be evacuated due to an eruption of Mont Mayon, in the central region of Bicol.
The most powerful eruption in recent decades was that in 1991 of Mount Pinatubo, a hundred kilometers northwest of Manila, which killed more than 800 people.