Volcano

Vanuatu's Tanna suffering from food shortages

The National Disaster Management Office said about 28,000 people are affected.

An official, Phillip Meto, said crops and food supplies have been destroyed by the ashfall from Mt Yasur.

The island was already short of food and water after a months-long drought.

     

Malampa plans long term options for volcano evacuees

Hundreds of people from four villages in South East Ambrym have been relocated to safe zones on Ambrym after eruptions of the island's twin volcanoes destroyed homes.

Vanuatu's Geohazards Department said the island's two volcanoes Mount Marum and Mount Benbow were at alert level 3 indicating a minor eruption state.

Malampa's Provincial Secretary General, Neil Netaf, said his team was working with chiefs and landowners on neighbouring Malekula to identify safe zones to become evacuation centres.

Relief efforts continue in Vanuatu’s Ambrym

The Malampa PEOC and other humanitarian partners, Red Cross, and clusters are working to ensure that affected communities are evacuated to safer parts of the island.

The PEOC has identified five affected communities and three primary schools.

The Ambrym onsite EOC has been established and is coordinated by two NDMO officers and Malampa province.

Malampa province has donated some food items for the affected communities.

'Volcano tsunami' hits Indonesia after Krakatoa eruption

The country's disaster management agency says hundreds of buildings were damaged by Saturday's tsunami.

It says the possible cause of the tsunami was undersea landslides after the Krakatoa volcano erupted.

The strait, between the islands of Java and Sumatra, connects the Java Sea to the Indian Ocean.

The disaster management agency warned that the death toll after the tsunami, that struck at about 21:30 local time (14:30GMT) on Saturday, is likely to rise further.

Deaths have been reported in the Pandeglang, South Lampung and Serang regions.

Ambae evacuees wait for permission to return

About 10,000 Ambaeans were evacuated from the island about four months ago due to volcanic activity and have been living on neighbouring islands, including Santo and Maewo.

RNZ Pacific understands the Vanuatu Council of Ministers will meet today to decide whether to send Ambaeans back to the island.

The government's state of emergency has ended however, the island might not be safe for occupation.

The Manaro volcano on Ambae remains at alert level two, which means an eruption is possible.

Thousands flee as Guatemala's Fuego volcano erupts

The stratovolcano southwest of the city of Antigua began erupting on Sunday, with ash and lava spewing from its crater.

It comes five months after almost 200 people were buried by volcanic ash and mud during a violent eruption in June. That eruption generated pyroclastic flows - fast-moving mixtures of very hot gas and volcanic matter - which descended down the slopes, engulfing communities such as El Rodeo and San Miguel Los Lotes.

Volcanologists say lava is rising 500m above the volcano's crater.

Vanuatu's Ambae Island completely evacuated

The director general of the climate change ministry, which is responsible for disaster management, says all the island's 10,000 residents are now on Maewo or Santo.

The order to abandon the island came from the government a month ago, after the eruption from the island's volcano re-intensified, blanketing the island in ash and toxic fumes.

Jesse Benjamin said the government had evacuated more than 3000 people to Santo, and 2,600 people are now on Maewo.

Mr Benjamin said the rest of the people evacuated themselves.

 

Eruption of Hawaii's Kilauea volcano slows to virtual halt

The US Geological Survey's Tina Neal said the lone volcanic fissure that was still active last week had dwindled from a fountain of molten rock to a bubbling pond of lava, no longer spilling out of the cone surrounding it.

Levels of sulfur dioxide gas vented from the fissure, located on the lower east flank of Kilauea, had also dropped dramatically, she said.

The subdued activity there coincided with another major collapse in the outer wall of the summit crater last week.

Renewed call from Vanuatu chiefs on volcano island

The president of the West Ambae area council of chiefs, Moses Bakeo, said a meeting by the chiefs last week came up with resolutions to present to the government.

Moses Bakeo said they want the government to help their children go to school in Santo and not Maewo, taking into account that 10 months of disruption has already negatively impacted on their education.

The chiefs say going to Maewo instead would make it even worse for their children.

Impact from Vanuatu volcanic eruption spreads

RNZ reports conditions are becoming critical in both north Pentecost and south Maewo islands, which are very close to Ambae.

Mt Manaro on Ambae has been erupting intermittently for ten months but an escalation in ash fall over the past two weeks has prompted the government to announce a mandatory evacuation of the island.

Meanwhile neighbouring Maewo and Pentecost are being affected and on north Pentecost the ash has forced people to use torches and lanterns in the middle of the day.