By Xinhua
Quito : Officials in western Ecuador Wednesday took measures to protect the area’s water systems after the eruptions of the Tungurahua volcano.
The Geophysical Institute (IG) director Hugo Yepez said that Tungurahua’s recent strong eruptions continue to emit volcanic substances, including gases and thick ash clouds that the wind spreads throughout the region.
“We ask all officials to activate the Civilian Defense (protection) system, to call the emergency centers, and to implement a series of measures to protect the water systems, and to tell inhabitants to protect their water tanks,” said Yepez.
Yepez said that a big cloud of volcanic dust is heading southwest and west of Ecuadorian territory and that it may affect the provinces of Bolivar, Chimborazo, Guayas, Manabi and Canar.
The officials of said provinces had drawn up a contingency plan to deal with volcanic ash rainfall and warned inhabitants about the risks of breathing ash air.
The Tungurahua volcano, 5,029 meters above sea level, is located in this South American country’s central region. It has registered some 135 strong explosions in the past 24 hours, forcing the evacuation of the inhabitants living near the volcano.
The villages located in the volcano’s outskirts were dislodged at the beginning of the eruption, said Chimborazo province governor Pablo Morillo.
The IG confirmed that an intense eruption has begun, similar to the eruptions registered on July 14 and Aug. 16 in 2006.
The IG reported in a special bulletin that since Wednesday afternoon it has registered “short term earthquake signals similar to those registered to the most intense eruption period of July and August of 2006.”