Volcano prompts emergency in Peru
September 13, 2013  02:31

Peru declared a state of emergency Thursday in nine districts threatened by the Ubinas volcano, which has erupted seven times since September 1, spewing harmful gas and ash. Authorities are distributing masks and have given themselves a 60-day period to relocate villagers from areas where ash is damaging crops and polluting water sources.

 

The explosions have sent a plume of smoke rising to 2500 meters above the crater, according to volcanologists at the Geophysical Institute of Peru. The first explosion on the night of September 1 was strong and followed by a series of lesser blasts, seismologist Victor Aguilar of the Geophysical Institute of the University of San Agustin de Arequipa told AFP.

 

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