El Salvador's largest volcano, dormant for more than a century, shook the ground as it woke up on Saturday, hurling out hot rocks, killing at least two and forcing more than 2,000 to flee.
The Santa Ana or Ilamatepec volcano, located 66km west of the capital, rumbled and belched thick plumes of ash that reached more than 15km into the sky on Saturday morning.
Military emergency sirens blasted, calling for an immediate area evacuation of the hamlets in the coffee growing area, and soon after the volcano began hurling glowing rocks and ash from its crater.
The volcano "has begun to expel magma on the side of the town of San Blas, while the ash is being carried by a south-southwesterly wind," University of El Salvador vulcanologist Francisco Barahona said.
Officials with the National Emergency Committee said that by 1pm 2,250 people had been evacuated from the danger zone.
Hot rocks belched out by the volcano ranged from the size of a football to the size of a car, a journalist on the scene reported.
At least seven people were injured by red hot rocks spewed into the air by the eruption, the national police said.
Two people were killed when 200 residents fled the hamlet of Palo Campana, located just 2km from the crater, Interior Minister Rene Figueroa said.
The eruption triggered a landslide of boiling mud and water from a crater lake that rushed down onto Palo Campana from three directions, authorities said.
Interior Ministry officials declared a red alert in a 4km radius around the volcano. A lesser "yellow alert" was issued for adjacent areas.
Some 20,000 people live in the area surrounding the volcano.
President Antonio Saca called on El Salvadorans to remain calm, describing the eruption as one of "moderate magnitude."
The country's civil protection forces have been deployed and are operational, he said.
Saca said he understood many people had never seen a volcano erupting and would like to get close to observe the phenomenon.
"This is not a game," he warned. "This could represent danger since we are not discounting another eruption."
At 2,381m above sea level, the Santa Ana volcano is the highest point in El Salvador. It last erupted in 1904.
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
CYBERSCAM: Anne, an interior decorator with mental health problems, spent a year and a half believing she was communicating with Brad Pitt and lost US$855,259 A French woman who revealed on TV how she had lost her life savings to scammers posing as Brad Pitt has faced a wave of online harassment and mockery, leading the interview to be withdrawn on Tuesday. The woman, named as Anne, told the Seven to Eight program on the TF1 channel how she had believed she was in a romantic relationship with the Hollywood star, leading her to divorce her husband and transfer 830,000 euros (US$855,259). The scammers used fake social media and WhatsApp accounts, as well as artificial intelligence image-creating technology to send Anne selfies and other messages
RSS