WATCH: Four blasts inside the Cotopaxi volcano sent ash shooting more than five kilometers into the sky on Friday, coating highways, homes and cars just south of Ecuador’s capital with a fine grey powder.
QUITO, Ecuador – The Cotopaxi volcano near Ecuador’s capital has spewed ash over a wide area in two pre-dawn blasts.
Government scientists say that the 5,987-meter snow-capped volcano doesn’t seem to be on the verge of a major eruption.
Authorities nevertheless suspended ascents of Cotopaxi, which is popular with mountaineers.
READ MORE: Eruptions of ash at 5 volcanoes darken skies over Indonesia
Patricio Ramon of Ecuador’s geophysics institute told Teleamazonas TV that the explosions were small phreatic eruptions, which occur when molten rock, or magma, meets water.
The volcano is 50 kilometres from Quito. It began showing signs of renewed activity in April. Its last major eruption was in 1877.
Cotopaxi is considered one of the world’s most dangerous volcanoes due to a glacial cover that makes it prone to mud flows and its proximity to a heavily populated area.
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