The eruption of a volcano on the largest of the remote Galapagos Islands is not a threat to its human inhabitants or unique flora and fauna, including the archipelago's famed giant tortoises, officials said Monday, AP reported. Pablo Gordillo, mayor of Puerto Villamil, a village of 2,000 people on seahorse-shaped Isabela, said there was no danger two days after the 1,500-meter (4,920-feet) high Sierra Negra volcano began erupting Saturday. «The situation is not risky,» he said, noting that «at most» iguanas may have been in the path of the lava flow, but that they could easily escape. Washington Tapia, director of the Galapagos National Park, agreed «The tortoise and iguana populations in the area are not threatened,» he said by telephone. «The rivers of lava that on Saturday were flowing toward the sea are no longer flowing.» Tapia said park rangers flew over the volcano and observed that the lava was flowing from a fissure at the top of the volcano back into the interior. «The winds have carried the smoke and ash out to sea,» Gordillo said in a telephone interview. «But we have taken precautions in case it becomes necessary to evacuate. We are ready to mobilize by sea and air.» He said no one has been evacuated, including people from outlying farms near the volcano. «We have opened an observation post near the site for tourists so that visitors can observe this natural spectacle,» he said. The last time the volcano erupted was in 1979. The Galapagos Islands, located 1,000 kilometers (625 miles) off Ecuador's Pacific coast, were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979 for their exotic wildlife such as marine iguanas and blue-footed boobies. The islands' rich biodiversity inspired Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. --SP 0002 Local Time 2102 GMT
