Ecuador Volcano Eruption Alert*

08 Mar 2007 13:45:00 GMT
by: Ruth Gidley

Ecuador's Tungurahua volcano - which means "throat of fire" in the
native Quechua language - is spewing ash again, seven calm months after
an eruption that forced thousands from their homes.

A state of emergency has been declared in the region, 130 km (80 miles)
south of the capital Quito, national paper Hoy reports.

Tungurahua killed a tiny number of people but affected the lives of more
than 300,000 when it erupted in July and August 2006, according to the
disaster database of Belgium's University of Louvain.

Another Ecuadoran newspaper, El Comercio, says the government has long
been planning to build new settlements for villagers displaced by the
volcano, which started rumbling again in 1999 after decades of inactivity.

But it reports that people in the area say they're fed up with
assessment after assessment, and want the authorities to show them some
action.

They'll also need ways of making a living in their new homes, the paper
points out.