A volcano in Ecuador launched molten rock and ash Tuesday as officials raised their eruption warning level and some nearby communities started evacuations. The 5,000-meter Tungurahua volcano in the South American country's central Andes Mountains, about 135 kilometers south of the capital Quito, has been active since 1999, but its thermal activity has steadily increased since Sunday, spewing boulders into the air and falling down from the summit. Good weather Monday night allowed scientists to observe "the continuous output of incandescent material," the Geophysical Institute said in its latest report. "This activity was characterized by the expulsion of incandescent boulders, rising more than 300 meters above the crater and rolling down all sides of the volcano." The increased activity prompted authorities to raise the alert level from yellow to orange, just below the highest alert level of red, in the impact zone which includes several communities on the volcano's slopes. The Geophysical Institute on Tuesday recommended people leave high-risk areas "because the current eruption process began abruptly and has generated several pyroclastic flows that have affected the upper flanks of the volcano." Several communities near Tungurahua, including the tourist town of Banos, were forced to evacuate during the volcano's violent eruption in 1999. Residents returned to their homes a year later.
