Two volcanoes awakened in America

Two volcanoes in Guatemala and Ecuador erupted, killing two people, several thousand evacuating and many cities sinking in ash.

A Guatemalan woman lives near Pacaya volcano running on the volcanic ash-covered road on May 28.Photo: AP.

AFP said the President of Guatemala, Mr. Alvaro Colom, had just declared a state of emergency for 15 days in the area around the volcano Pacaya. This volcano is 2,552 m high and 50 km south of Guatemala capital. It started erupting from May 26. Since then Pacaya volcano has left two people dead, 59 injured, three missing children and 100 houses destroyed.

About 1,700-1,900 people were evacuated to safe places. Guatemala City is submerged in ash and dust, making the lives of about two million people turn upside down. In an area with a radius of 100 km from the volcano, people use brooms and shovels to clean up sand and ash on rooftops and yards.

Pacaya volcano erupted 6 times in 49 years. Eddy Sanchez, director of the Guatemala Institute of Geology, said volcanoes have accumulated a lot of energy for several years, so it will continue to erupt in the next few days.

'Like a pressure cooker, it will release energy vigorously,' he explained.

Ecuadorians photograph Tungurahua volcano on May 28.Photo: AP.

In Ecuador, the Tungurahua volcano erupted yesterday, causing people in at least seven nearby villages to evacuate. Officials also ordered the airport and schools to be closed in Guayaquil - the largest and most populous city in Ecuador. Dust ash is also covering four other cities in Guayas province.

Hugo Yepes, director of the Ecuadorian Institute of Geophysics, said yesterday that there was a time when the ashes from the volcano reached a height of 10 km, then it gradually decreased.

Tungurahua volcano, 5,029 m high and 135 km south of Ecuador's capital Quito, once killed 6 people and destroyed 700 houses when it erupted in 2006.