Around 1,400 people have been evacuated from their homes following fresh activity at Tungurahua volcano in Ecuador Thursday.
The country's Geophysical Institute (GI) said an eruption was extremely likely.
"We now have strong seismic signals. The seismic activity is increasing very fast, which makes us believe a new eruption is on the way," GI scientists told a press conference Thursday.
Tungurahua volcano first erupted Tuesday night but remained calm until a strong explosion which thrust up clouds of ash and rubble at 11:55 local time (16:55 GMT) Thursday .
The volcano was covered by cloud Thursday completely obscuring its crater. Nevertheless, volcanic ash and rubble were found nearby.
Officials from the volcano observatory in Guadalupe, 12 km from the volcano, confirmed that strong seismic activity begun again, saying the situation "is very similar to the one of Tuesday."
Civilian Defense officials maintained an emergency situation in the region and issued a red alert for the area surrounding Tungurahua. No one was hurt in Tuesday's eruptions, however.
Some 1,400 people have been placed in temporary refuges in the provinces of Chimborazo and Tungurahua.
The 5,039-meter Tungurahua volcano began erupting in November 1999 and since then its activity has varied in strength. Climaxes came on July 14 and Aug. 15 of 2006 when two strong eruptions occurred.
Source: Xinhua
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