Volcano eruption, Nicaragua evacuated 3,000 people

Last night, September 8 (Vietnam time), San Cristobal volcano - Nicaragua's highest volcano, suddenly spewed a column of ash and smoke 4km high, forcing authorities to urgently evacuate about 3,000 people living nearby.

San Cristobal volcano erupted strongly on September 8, forcing Nicaragua to evacuate 3,000 people - Photo: AFP

Locals said they heard three loud explosions from the volcano, at the same time clouds of ash billowed into the sky and drifted to neighboring villages.

“This activity affected about 500 households with a total of 3,000 inhabitants, so we decided to evacuate them,” Guillermo Gonzalez, an official in charge of Nicaragua's disaster monitoring and management agency, said, AP quoted.

He also said 300 soldiers had been deployed to evacuate people and take care of them.

Javier Mejia, director of the Nicaraguan Geological Institute, said monitoring equipment showed “strong activity” at the volcano. “We are not ruling out any possibility, but we ask everyone to remain calm,” he said.

San Cristobal Volcano, also known as El Viejo, is 1,740m high and located 140km northwest of the capital Managua. This volcano has been active since 1520, and its most recent eruption was in 2011.

Nicaragua has been on alert since a 7.6 magnitude earthquake rocked neighboring Costa Rica on September 5, killing at least one person. The quake, the strongest to hit Costa Rica in 20 years, also triggered landslides and collapsed homes.

After this earthquake, geologists recorded more than 530 aftershocks ranging from 2 to 5.1 on the Richter scale. Reuters reported yesterday, September 8, that a 5.6 magnitude earthquake also shook the northwestern region of Costa Rica but there were no reports of damage.

According to Tuoi Tre - DT