Quito, May 4 (EFE).- The Sangay volcano, the southernmost in Ecuador, generates an explosion every half minute on average and in some of them it has been possible to see the glow in the crater and the rolling of incandescent stones at night. on one of its flanks, as reported this Saturday by the Geophysical Institute (IG) of the National Polytechnic School.
In a report, the entity specified that in the last 24 hours 918 explosions have been recorded, which represents an average of just over 38 every hour.
The IG indicated that satellite images have made it possible to detect emissions of gas and ash in the form of columns, like clouds, that have risen to between 500 and 1,700 meters above the summit and that, due to the effect of the wind, have taken a direction to the southwest of the mountain.
Likewise, he said he estimated that the volcano has exhaled about 1,000 tons of sulfur dioxide in the last 24 hours and has detected up to 15 thermal anomalies in its surroundings.
During the night, episodes of incandescence have also been observed in the crater and the descent of up to 1,000 meters below the summit of magmatic material, hot rocks that have rolled down one of its ravines on the southeastern flank.
El Sangay, 5,230 meters high, is located in an Andean branch of the Amazon province of Morona Santiago, in the southeast of the country.
Another active volcano in Ecuador is El Reventador, which in the last 24 hours generated 65 explosions, a little more than one every hour, in addition to 13 mild “long-period” earthquakes, related to the internal movement of fluids, and 14 episodes of tremor during exhalations of gases and ash.
It has also generated emission columns up to 800 meters above the summit, a thermal anomaly has been detected and at night it has been possible to observe incandescence at the level of the crater and the descent of magmatic material down its flanks up to 400 meters down the slope, added the fountain.
With its 3,560 meters high, El Reventador is located in the Amazonian province of Napo, in the northeast of the country, and is part of a row of volcanoes in a mountainous area next to Pan de Azúcar, Sumaco and the Conos de Puyo .
The Geophysical Institute also issued a report on the situation of the La Cumbre volcano, on Fernandina Island, the westernmost of the Galapagos archipelago, in the Pacific Ocean, about 1,000 kilometers west of the continental coasts of Ecuador.
The satellite monitoring systems that monitor the behavior of this island volcano have detected several thermal anomalies in the last 24 hours, some of them permanent and related to the lava flows that have traveled from its crater to reach the sea.
The contact of the volcanic material with the sea has generated emissions of water vapor and gases, a phenomenon that could be potentially harmful to people, which is why the IG has recommended taking precautions in tourist, fishing and scientific research activities that are carried out. can develop in that area.
La Cumbre, 1,476 meters high, is one of the most active volcanoes in the Galapagos and it is estimated that for just over 200 years it has had between 28 and 30 eruptions.
The Galapagos archipelago is one of the best preserved terrestrial and marine reserves in the world, in addition to having been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1978. EFE
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