A more powerful eruption of Reventador in March 2005.
Ecuador’s Reventador volcano spewed fresh bursts of ash near the capital city of Quito.
Geophysics Institute spokesman Patricio Ramon said rising lava produced the explosion that rocked the 11,686-foot (3,562-metre) mountain before flowing down its flanks.
Two nearby oil pipelines and a major highway could be threatened should activity from Reventador intensify, Ramon said.
Officials say that about 450 nearby residents voluntarily evacuated their homes after the country’s Institute of Geology and Mines warned of heightened volcanic activity.
A violent eruption of the mountain in 2002 shot ash 10 miles (16 kilometres) into the atmosphere and blanketed Quito, 60 miles (100 km) away, in a thick layer of ash.
Photo: Ecuador Ciencia