‘Lava bombs raining down’: Officials give grim warning over erupting Pacaya volcano in Guatemala
Authorities are preparing to race thousands of people to shelters with Guatemala’s Pacaya volcano spewing burning cinders and lava bombs into the air, putting five towns in the area at risk.
The volcano erupted, expelling lava for several hours and prompting the country’s meteorological institute to warn incandescent volcanic blocks could rain down on nearby towns.
Officials stopped short of ordering evacuations following the so-called strombolian eruption, explosions that consist of relatively mild blasts but eject burning cinders and lava bombs.
One of the Central American country’s most active volcanoes, Pacaya began to expel lava at dawn on Wednesday, creating an immense column of smoke, video footage showed.
“The Pacaya volcano has a very high level of activity, which has generated a strombolian type eruption, with strong explosions,” the meteorological institute, Insivumeh, said in a statement.
David de Leon, spokesman for the National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction, said civil protection teams were checking several facilities that could be used as shelters as lava continued to flow late Wednesday.
Insivumeh said five towns, home to around 3000 people, were at risk from burning projectiles from the volcano, which is located 28km south of Guatemala City.
Pacaya experienced minor activity for a month before erupting on Wednesday.
Guatemala volcano fires ash 3km into air
The Pacaya volcano has been spewing ash columns 3200 metres into the air since February.
The National Institute for Seismology, Volcanology, Meteorology and Hydrology (Insivumeh) warned the volcano’s high level of activity is accompanied by ashfall on villages more than 25km away, as well as lava flow.
Pacaya, a strato-volcano with an elevation of 2552 metres, also caused rumbles and vibrations around the surrounding areas and villages located on its slopes, while ballistic material fell about 500 metres around the crater.
