Perilous Times
Thousands flee massive double volcano eruptions in Ecuador and
Guatemala
EDGAR CALDERON
May 29, 2010 - 1:34PM
Thousands of people were evacuated and airports were closed as two
volcanos erupted in Guatemala and Ecuador Friday, choking major cities
with ash, and leaving two dead, officials said.
Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom declared a 15-day state of emergency
around the Pacaya volcano, 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of the
capital.
The volcano erupted again Friday after first bursting back to life
Wednesday, killing two people, including a television reporter covering
the event.
In Ecuador, the Tungurahua volcano exploded into action Friday, forcing
the evacuation of at least seven villages and closing down the airport
and public schools in Guayaquil, the country's largest and most
populated city.
As the 2,552 meters (8,372 feet) Pacaya volcano exploded anew on
Friday, with billowing clouds of ash and dust, Colom said La Aurora
International Airport, in Guatemala City, would remain closed until
Saturday "because we've got to clean the runways and surrounding areas"
of ash.
The airport closures were reminiscent of the massive blanket of ash
Iceland's Eyjafjoell volcano spewed out last month causing the biggest
aerial shutdown in Europe since World War II, affecting more than
100,000 flights and eight million passengers.
President Colom said the eruptions of Pacaya since Wednesday had killed
two people, injured 59, left three children missing and destroyed 100
homes.
The Emergency Management Coordinator said between 1,700-1,900 people
have been evacuated from their homes to nearby shelters in three
departments affected by the emergency decree.
The Education Ministry also suspended classes in the emergency area.
On Friday, the volcano was rocked by constant explosions and spewed
bright-colored plumes into the air.
Guatemala City was covered in a blanket of ash and dust, as people
evacuated from the danger zone wandered the streets darkened by the ash
cloud and the city's two million inhabitants tried to cope with the
catastrophe.
The head of the national seismological institute warned more eruptions
could take place "in the coming days" at the most active volcano in
Central America.
The Pacaya volcano has been active for 49 years and has experienced six
large eruptions.
The head of the national seismological institute Eddy Sanchez said the
volcano had accumulated a lot of energy over several years. "Like a
pressure cooker, it will release the pressure violently," he told
reporters.
He warned that lava would continue to spew out at high altitudes.
The charred body of television journalist Anibal Archila was found near
the volcano by a colleague, who said the victim could not escape the
raining rocks and other projectiles thrown out when the volcano
exploded late Thursday.
"We decided to stay a few minutes longer taking more photographs.
Suddenly, we heard rumblings and rocks began falling all around so we
had to get out running," a driver for one of the reporters covering the
scene with Archila told the Nuestro Diario newspaper.
The second eruption-related fatality was that of a 22-year-old man who
fell to his death as he cleaned volcano ash from the roof of a school.
Colom vowed government action to clean up the gray mess.
"The people must feel confident that the state is responding," the
president said as he announced he would travel to the most affected
municipalities to work with emergency committees.
Within a 100-kilometer (62-mile) radius of the volcano, locals armed
with brooms and shovels scrambled to remove sand and ash from the roofs
and courtyards of their homes.
"We've only cleaned the backyard so far and we've already filled a
large garbage bag," Isabel Estevez told AFP. She and her husband began
cleaning the sediment dumped by the volcano, up to five centimeters
(two inches) thick in some places.
In Ecuador, meanwhile, the Tungurahua volcano experienced one of its
biggest eruptions Friday, spewing columns of ash and rock prompting
evacuations of at least seven surrounding villages.
"Certain measures have been taken, including the closure of Guayaquil
airport until further notice and the suspension of classes in Guayas
province, as we make a new assessment" of the situation, said Yuri De
Janon, regional coordinator of risk management.
He said the ash fallout from the volcano was affecting Guayaquil and
four other towns in Guayas.
Hugo Yepes, director of Ecuador's Geophysical Institute, noted that the
volcano was at one point spewing molten rocks and large clouds of ash
and gas 10 kilometers (33,000 feet) into the sky. But he said the
volcanic activity had since decreased.