Volcano

Vanuatu's government has ordered a mass evacuation of the island of Ambae, after about a week of escalating volcanic observations of Monaro Voui.

A state of emergency was declared on 26 September.

All 11,000 residents of Ambae - five percent of Vanuatu's population - have been told to evacuate the island. Initially, islanders moved to shelters on Ambae but the government then ordered a mandatory island-wide evacuation.

The government's ordered the evacuation of the entire island, as the volcano - Manaro Voui - blankets the island in ash and acid rain.

The head of the island's provincial government, Georgewin Garae, on Saturday said about 500 people had already evacuated themselves, either by chartering planes or boats.

But he said the majority of the island's 11,000 people were waiting for the government evacuation, which will start in earnest tomorrow, with ferries starting to arrive today.

The volcanic alert level at the Manaro Voui crater was upgraded to level four last week with the Geohazards Department warning of flying rocks, volcanic gas, acid rain and ash falls.

At least 7000 of the islands population of more than 11,000 have been relocated from danger zones around the volcano to evacuation centres on the western and eastern sides of the island.

Up to 20 percent of Ambae residents are thought to have already left for nearby islands but the government says it wants all of them off as the eruption is not abating.

Spewing steam and sending tremors through the area, the volcano's alert status was raised to the highest level last week.

Since then, tens of thousands of villagers have been urged to abandon their homes beneath the menacing volcano.

The national disaster management agency has housed evacuees in tents, school gyms, and government buildings in neighbouring villages.

While there are plentiful stocks of food, water, medicines, and other supplies, evacuees fear they are in for a long wait that could disrupt their livelihoods.

The crew, along with a number of tourists, were drawn to Etna in Sicily to observe the spectacle of the active volcano erupting but were caught by surprise when flowing magma hit thick snow, causing an explosion that caused rock and other material to rain down upon them.

Volcanic rocks and steam from the eruption injured at least 10 people, witnesses and media reported, and the network's science reporter who was on assignment on Etna, Rebecca Morelle, described the experience in a series of tweets.

The eruption Monday prompted authorities to raise the alert level for the area, banning people from approaching within 2 kilometers (1.25 miles) of the volcano's mouth.

There are no homes within that area and there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the eruption fired bits of volcanic rock, smoke and steam flying. It was unclear if there was any volcanic flow from the mountain.