PLANET X MEXICO JANUARY 21st 2017
Volcanoes are erupting around the globe this weekend, causing flight cancellations in southeast Asia and evacuations in Mexico.
Hundreds of people have been forced to flee from their villages located at the foot of the Colima Volcano in western Mexico’s Colima State, following an eruption this weekend which saw the active mountain spew ash and fire.
The volcano, also known as the Volcano of Fire, also forced a local airport to close as authorities have sealed off a 7.5 mile area amid fears an even bigger eruption may follow.
In Chile, the Villarrica Volcano, around 460 miles south of the capital Santiago, has been erupting overnight.
The Villarrica, located near the popular tourist resort of Pucon is among the most active in South America.
In Bali, Indonesia a volcano eruption on the neighbouring island of Java has forced one of Indonesia’s busiest airports to close for the second time in just a few days.
Mount Raung on Indonesia’s main island of Java has been erupting for weeks, and on Thursday a cloud of drifting ash forced the closure of Bali airport during peak holiday season, and four others.
The airport on the resort island, a top holiday destination that attracts millions of foreign tourists every year, reopened two days later as the ash drifted away, allowing some passengers to board flights home and others to arrive.
However the cloud returned Sunday morning, forcing authorities to shut the airport again. But the new closure lasted just a few hours and the airport was reopened in the afternoon as the ash shifted, the government said.
‘Full, normal operations have resumed, however planes are to fly in and out from a westerly direction to avoid the ash,’ transport ministry spokesman J. A. Barata told AFP.
Indonesian government vulcanologist Gede Suantika said that Mount Raung continued to erupt Sunday, spewing ash up to 3,200 feet into the air, and the wind had in the morning pushed the cloud of dust towards Bali, some 90 miles away.
Authorities raised the alert status of Mount Raung, a 3,300-metre volcano, late last month to the second highest level after it began to spew lava and ash high into the air.
Air traffic is regularly disrupted by volcanic eruptions in Indonesia, which sits on a belt of seismic activity running around the basin of the Pacific Ocean and is home to the highest number of active volcanoes in the world, around 130.
Also in Indonesia, Mount Sinabung in Sumatra, has been erupting for two months, forcing the evacuation of more than 10,000 people.
Hundreds of people have been forced to flee from their villages located at the foot of the Colima Volcano in western Mexico’s Colima State, following an eruption this weekend which saw the active mountain spew ash and fire.
The volcano, also known as the Volcano of Fire, also forced a local airport to close as authorities have sealed off a 7.5 mile area amid fears an even bigger eruption may follow.
In Chile, the Villarrica Volcano, around 460 miles south of the capital Santiago, has been erupting overnight.
The Villarrica, located near the popular tourist resort of Pucon is among the most active in South America.
In Bali, Indonesia a volcano eruption on the neighbouring island of Java has forced one of Indonesia’s busiest airports to close for the second time in just a few days.
Mount Raung on Indonesia’s main island of Java has been erupting for weeks, and on Thursday a cloud of drifting ash forced the closure of Bali airport during peak holiday season, and four others.
The airport on the resort island, a top holiday destination that attracts millions of foreign tourists every year, reopened two days later as the ash drifted away, allowing some passengers to board flights home and others to arrive.
However the cloud returned Sunday morning, forcing authorities to shut the airport again. But the new closure lasted just a few hours and the airport was reopened in the afternoon as the ash shifted, the government said.
‘Full, normal operations have resumed, however planes are to fly in and out from a westerly direction to avoid the ash,’ transport ministry spokesman J. A. Barata told AFP.
Indonesian government vulcanologist Gede Suantika said that Mount Raung continued to erupt Sunday, spewing ash up to 3,200 feet into the air, and the wind had in the morning pushed the cloud of dust towards Bali, some 90 miles away.
Authorities raised the alert status of Mount Raung, a 3,300-metre volcano, late last month to the second highest level after it began to spew lava and ash high into the air.
Air traffic is regularly disrupted by volcanic eruptions in Indonesia, which sits on a belt of seismic activity running around the basin of the Pacific Ocean and is home to the highest number of active volcanoes in the world, around 130.
Also in Indonesia, Mount Sinabung in Sumatra, has been erupting for two months, forcing the evacuation of more than 10,000 people.