Popocatepetl Volcano Erupts...04/18/00

Mexico's Popocatepetl Volcano exploded on Monday, sending a plume of ash 6,560 feetinto the sky over the state of Puebla.

Servando de la Cruz, an official with the National Disaster Prevention Center, reported that the explosion was not associated with an increase in the eruptive phase of the 17,883-foot-high volcano. The center is maintaining an ongoing yellow alert for the danger zone surrounding the mountain, whose name means "Smoking Mountain" to the Aztecs.

 
Fresh Eruptions at Mount Usu...04/18/00

Japan's Mount Usu Volcano in southwestern Hokkaido exploded once again on Monday, spewing black smoke and forcing officials to close key roads and to stop evacuated residents' visits to their homes.

Professor Mitsuhiro Nakagawa of Hokkaido University reported that an aerial survey revealed that craters on the west side of the mountain were very active. He confirmed that the smoke plumes were caused by underground magma explosions and said that volcanologists were monitoring falling levels of underground water that has been responsible for restraining violent magma activity.

The volcano began erupting on March 31 after being quiet for almost 23 years. Last Thursday, authorities revised their predictions of an imminent large explosion and allowed about one third of the evacuated residents to return home.

 
Ecuadorian Volcanoes Explode...04/18/00

Two Ecuadorian volcanoes, Guagua Pichincha and Tungurahua, erupted on Sunday, forcing officials to issue alerts for
communities near the bases of both mountains.

Guagua Pichincha spewed clouds of vapor 1,640 feet into the sky over the capital Quito. Volcanologists at the Geophysical Institute of the National Polytechnic School warned that the 15,728-foot-high volcano, located six miles to the west of Quito, could experience a major eruption in coming days.

Volcanic boulders and magma also burst from snow-covered Tungurahua, the largest volcano in Ecuador, on Sunday. The nearby city of Banos as well as other neighboring communities were put on alert.

 
Mount Etna Explodes...04/17/00

Sicily's Mount Etna Volcano exploded on Sunday, spewing ash and lava into the Mediterranean sky from craters on its southeastern slopes.

The powerful eruptions of Europe's highest and most active volcano could be seen from the nearby cities of Syracuse, Taormina, and Catania. Communities close to the volcano were not threatened as lava from the mountain flowed into an uninhabited valley.

The volcano had been quiet after a spectacular eruption 13 days earlier.

Etna's last major eruption occurred in December 1991, when lava flows reached the city of Zafferana at the base of the mountain.