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VOLCANO-ERUPTION
Volcanic eruption causes damage, disruption on Vanuatu’s Ambae island
SUVA, July 19, 2018 (BSS/XINHUA) – All roads to west Ambae in Vanuatu where
the Manoro volcano has been erupting seriously since late last year, have
been cut due to massive mud flows.
According to Vanuatu’s Daily Post newspaper website on Thursday, the Ambae
Island was now accessible only by sea or by air.
An exclusive peek into the mouth of the volcano showed frightening signs
after a team trekked up to the summit of mount Lombenben and flew a drone
directly over the smoking crater to take pictures.
The team that trekked eight hours to get to the site reported that the
landscape on the summit and its approaches had been completely transformed by
a month of ashfall. They reported widespread damage and massive disruption to
the local population on Ambae Island.
In May this year, there were reports of outbreak of infectious diseases on
Vanuatu’s volcanically active Ambae Island.
The island’s Manoro volcano, a large and geologically active volcano, has
been erupting since late last year, and thick ashfalls and acid rain have
forced many people to flee their homes.
Vanuatu’s national coordinator for emergency medical teams Basil Leodoro
said that ashfall was causing psychological stress on people who had been
forced to leave their homes and food gardens as a result of the eruptions.
The volcanic alert level at the time was at level 3.
The Manoro volcano experienced a significant new eruption in November 2005,
followed by unrest until 2017. In early 2017, this volcanic unrest escalated
and the volcano started erupting in September 2017. This eruption has
occurred over three phases since September 2017.
In Phase 3, namely from February to May 2018, there has been thick and
widespread volcanic ashfalls across the island of Ambae, causing significant
impacts on food supplies, water, shelter and the health of Ambae Island
residents.
The Vanuatu government has said that the 11,000 people of the Ambae island
can voluntarily evacuate to nearby island of Maewo in order to prevent
themselves from being hurt by ashfall from the erupting Manaro Voui crater.
BSS/XINHUA/ARS/1743 hrs