Giant telescope project in Hawaii delayed by protests

Yahoo – AFP, Laurent BANGUET, September 28, 2019

Mauna Kea is volcano is sacred to Native Hawaiians (AFP Photo)

Los Angeles (AFP) - Anger is brewing on the Big Island of Hawaii over plans to build a giant telescope on a dormant volcano that is highly sacred to the region's native population.

For months, hundreds of protesters have delayed the start of construction on Mauna Kea volcano of the so-called Thirty Meter Telescope, or TMT, which astronomers say will have a dozen times the resolution of the Hubble Space Telescope.

The demonstrators, who have converged on the site peacefully, argue that the $1.4 billion project would sit on a volcano that is sacred to Native Hawaiians and would harm the environment.

Celebrities like Dwayne Johnson, Jason Momoa and Bruno Mars have lent their support to the protesters.

"What I realized today, and obviously I've been following this for years now, is that it's bigger than a telescope," Johnson, who lived in Hawaii as a child, reportedly said when he visited the site earlier this summer.

"It's humanity. It's culture," he said.

Work on the project -- set to be completed by 2027 -- was supposed to start in 2015 but has been hampered by repeated protests.

"Construction has been delayed for years because of this situation," Christophe Dumas, a French astronomer and head of operations at TMT, told AFP. "The cost has also risen significantly... and the process to obtain a construction permit lasted 10 years."

The central region of the Trifid Nebula is shown in this photo taken by the Gemini 

North 8-meter Telescope on Mauna Kea (AFP Photo/GEMINI OBSERVATORY)

Protest leaders say the consortium of scientists behind the project can build their scope on a less controversial site, including on a mountain in Spain's Canary Islands, where they say it would be a win-win situation for everyone.

Dumas argues, however, that Mauna Kea "remains the ideal site" in the Northern Hemisphere because of its altitude -- 13,796 feet (4,205 meters) above sea level -- as well as its remoteness and clear skies which make it one of the best places on the planet for astronomical observatories.

The new telescope, according to scientists, would enable astronomers to see "forming galaxies at the very edge of the observable universe, near the beginning of time."

Already, Mauna Kea, which means White Mountain, is home to 13 telescopes housed in 12 facilities at or around the summit, which have been the source of a host of new discoveries and scientific studies.

Some question whether one more telescope -- albeit a giant one -- would make such a big difference.

The answer is a resounding "yes" from opponents.

'Enough is enough'

"I talked to the leaders of the opposition and they made it real clear that not only is it too big, but it's just one too many," said Greg Chun, executive director of Mauna Kea stewardship at the University of Hawaii. "They tell me we have shared this mountain long enough. Enough is enough."

He said Native Hawaiians have repeatedly expressed concerns about the development of the mountain but their complaints have, for the most part, fallen on deaf ears.

Visitors look at a scaled down model of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) on display 

during a science exhibition in Bangalore in July 2019 (AFP Photo/Manjunath Kiran)

Scientists began flocking to Mauna Kea after a tsunami in 1960 devastated communities along the base of the volcano and local authorities, in a bid to revive the economy, began a drive to attract astronomers.

"From the very beginning, the development of astronomy has raised concerns about the development of the mountain," Chun said. "So it's not something new."

But many observers say the Mauna Kea debate goes beyond just a telescope and reflects deep-seated resentment by some Native Hawaiians over past abuses and the legacy of colonialism in the Hawaiian islands.

Jonathan Osorio, an expert on Hawaiian culture and a longtime opponents of the planned telescope, insists that he and fellow protesters are not opposed to science but they object to telescopes being built on sacred land.

Dumas for his part argues that the telescope is being used as a tool to pressure authorities to seek more autonomy for the native population.

"The telescope would not sit atop the mountain and will be visible from only a small section (14 percent) of the island," he said.

He said his team has gone to great lengths to respect local custom and tradition but the project now needs to urgently get off the ground.

"We can't wait much longer and the next few weeks are going to be critical," he said.

First human remains found in El Salvador's 'Mayan Pompeii'

Yahoo – AFP, 23 November 2018

Like Pompeii and Herculaneum in Italy, the remains of Joya de Ceren were discovered
 in exceptional condition, providing a rare insight into the Mayan way of life including
rituals, agriculture, trade, governance and eating habits

Human remains have been discovered for the first time in El Salvador's Joya de Ceren, a city buried by a volcanic eruption more than 1,400 years ago and sometimes dubbed the "Mayan Pompeii," the ministry of culture said Thursday.

A skeleton, which was in poor condition, was discovered at the beginning of November, buried with an obsidian knife at the UNESCO World Heritage archaeological site located about 20 miles (35 kilometers) north of the capital San Salvador.

The person "probably lived in the city but was not killed by the eruption" of the Loma Caldera volcano, archaeologist Michelle Toledo said.

Toledo added that researchers believed the remains date to the Late Classic period of Mesoamerica because of the presence of fine white tephra, known as "Tierra Blanca Joven" (young white earth) resulting from the volcanic eruption around 535 AD.

The cataclysmic eruption of the Loma Caldera volcano destroyed numerous Mayan sites and was responsible for the formation of Lake Ilopango, with an area of ​​27.8 square miles (72 square kilometers).

The remains are the first to be discovered in more than 40 years of excavations.

Like Pompeii and Herculaneum in Italy, the remains of Joya de Ceren were discovered in exceptional condition, providing a rare insight into the Mayan way of life including rituals, agriculture, trade, governance and eating habits.

"Mayan Pompeii": Human remains discovered for the first time in El Salvador's Joya de Ceren, a city buried by a volcanic eruption more than 1,400 years agohttps://t.co/nomB024omH pic.twitter.com/yqxV0I4F6l

— AFP news agency (@AFP) November 23, 2018

Costa Rica boasts clean energy -- and bad car pollution

Yahoo – AFP, Marco SIBAJA, November 19, 2015

The Churchill Mamiche ice-cream parlour in Caldera, Puntarenas, 80 km 

southwest of San Jose is entirely powered --day and night-- by solar panels

(AFP Photo/Ezequiel Becerra)

Caldera (Costa Rica) (AFP) - At dusk one weekend on Costa Rica's tropical Pacific coast, Mamiche is catering to a line of customers in front of the beachside ice-cream stand he tends.

All looks balmy and typical -- except for one little detail: the stand's refrigerator, fan and lighting are not connected to the electricity network and there's no noisy generator.

Instead, solar panels on the roof are providing the power, another sign of an eco-friendly push in Costa Rica that has made the country a model of development and clean energy.

Costa Rica expects 97% of its energy 

generation to come from renewable

 sources this year (AFP Photo/

Ezequiel Becerra)

The ice-cream outlet's owner, Luis Diego Vasquez, recalls how he used to spend up to $40 a day on fueling a smelly generator to keep the shop running.

"Fed up with the noise and the pollution, we started thinking about putting up solar panels to use the sun -- something we have a lot of here," he told AFP.

Land of renewable energy

With an electricity grid supplied by hydroelectric dams across rivers, from the heat of its numerous volcanoes, and from wind and the sun, the small Central American nation expects 97 percent of its energy generation to come from renewable sources this year.

"Costa Rica has renewable resources -- a sun that shines. The wind. It has hydro resources. And all of that, along with geothermal and biomass energy, allows us to have such a renewable energy network," Javier Orozco, planning chief at the national energy company ICE, told AFP.

Next to him, ICE's CEO, Carlos Obregon, said the ultimate aim was to eventually have 100 percent renewable energy, "but that requires us to find a balance between different energy production, and that's not a question of a year, but of many years."

Still, the country caught the attention of the world ahead of December's COP21 UN Convention on Climate Change in Paris by being totally reliant on renewable energy for the first 75 days of this year, with no recourse to its thermal plants using fossil fuels.

A report by the environmental protection group WWF last year highlighted the country as a Latin American leader in clean energy and predicted that in 2021 it would have an entirely renewable energy supply.

Owner Luis Diego Vasquez installs more solar panels for the Churchill 

Mamiche ice-cream parlour (AFP Photo/Ezequiel Becerra)

Polluting cars

But there is another side to Costa Rica, one that tarnishes its image as an environmentally conscientious nation: that of its congested roads, saturated with old cars and buses, many spewing smoke.

According to the Environment and Energy Ministry, the transport sector is responsible for 66 percent of hydrocarbon consumption and 54 percent of carbon-dioxide emissions, one of the principal gases responsible for climate change.

Despite its clean-energy network, Costa Rica produced 1.7 metric tons of CO2 per head of population between 2011 and 2015, on a level with other countries at a similar stage of development, such as Colombia or Uruguay, World Bank figures show.

Costa Rica has nearly 1.4 million cars for a population of five million. RITEVE, its roadworthiness inspection agency, says the average age of the vehicles is 16 years, which aggravates the emission problem.

In an effort to address the issue, one lawmaker, Marcela Guerrero, of the governing Citizen Action Party, last month presented a bill to lift import duties on electric vehicles for five years and to encourage ownership of CO2 emission-free cars.

She told AFP that she hoped to see 100,000 electric cars replace ones with conventional engines.

"We want users, with clear signals, to get behind a new pattern of consumption that will lower emissions," she said.

Wind turbines of the National Power and Light Company in Santa Ana, 

Costa Rica (AFP Photo/Ezequiel Becerra)

Electric train?

Another initiative is to start up an urban electric train system in the most populated center of the country, where the congested capital San Jose lies.

Although considered crucial from transport and environmental perspectives, lawmakers have made little headway in having the train project approved because of funding discrepancies.

Guerrero said she was confident a consensus allowing a vote would be reached by April 2016, and that the trains would be operational in the following five years.

The question is whether Costa Rica can maintain its clean energy goal while providing the sparks needed for electric transport.

Obregon is convinced that ICE will be able to handle the increased demand by deepening investment in non-conventional sources such as wind and solar power, which currently play a marginal role in its mix.

"We are preparing for a future where consumers are also (energy) generators," making contributions to the grid through private solar panels and the like, he said.

If it goes that way, Mamiche's little stand may end up selling not only ice, but fire.

Related Article:

Benin tackles climate change with sunshine and coconuts

Fears for pink iguanas as Galapagos volcano erupts

Yahoo – AFP, 25 May 2015

The eruption of the volcano Wolf on Isabela Island, Galapagos on
May 25, 2015 (AFP Photo/Diego Paredes)

Quito (AFP) - A volcano in the Galapagos islands erupted for the first time in more than 30 years Monday, sending streams of lava flowing down its slopes and potentially threatening the world's only colony of pink iguanas.

The Galapagos National Park warned on Twitter that Isabela Island, where Wolf volcano erupted at dawn, holds "the world's only population" of the iguanas, Conolophus marthae, also known as the Galapagos rosy iguana.

Park officials told AFP they were not immediately able to establish whether the iguanas were at risk from the eruption.

A tourist boat passing by the uninhabited island informed authorities the 1,707-meter (5,600-foot) volcano was erupting.

Park officials then flew over the area to assess the impact of the eruption.

Pictures released by the park show fiery streams of lava trickling down the side of the volcano as a puff of smoke rises into the air and tongues of fire dart from the crater.

Wolf volcano had last erupted in 1982.

Isabela Island is the largest in the Galapagos, the Ecuadoran archipelago made famous by Charles Darwin's studies of its breathtaking biodiversity, which was crucial in his development of the theory of evolution by natural selection.

The island chain, which sits about 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) off the coast of Ecuador, is one of the most volcanically active regions in the world.

Isabela island, which strides the equator, also has four other volcanoes: Darwin, Alcedo, Cerro Azul and Sierra Negra.

Chile President Michelle Bachelet prepares new cabinet in wake of corruption scandals

Chile's president Michelle Bachelet has asked all of her cabinet ministers to resign, so she can decide who stays and who leaves over the next 72 hours. Corruption scandals have reduced her approval ratings among voters.

Deutsche Welle, 7 May 2015

Opinion polls in Chile showed President Michelle Bachelet's approval ratings in March and April had fallen to 31 percent, the lowest for her current administration and her 2006-2010 presidency.

She announced on Wednesday night: "This is the time for a cabinet change."

In a television interview Bachelet said: "Some hours ago I asked all of my ministers to submit their resignation, and I will take 72 hours to decide who stays and who goes."

The president recently conceded that corruption scandals have badly affected her administration. While corruption levels in Chile are among the lowest in South America, trust in politicians and business leaders has been hit because of a bank loan scandal involving Bachelet's son and his wife, and a campaign financing scandal involving right-wing politicians and a prominent financial company.

Last year, Bachelet won the election with a promise to fight against Chile's inequalities. The scandals have overshadowed her political agenda at a time when she is trying to push through ambitious labor, education and other reforms.

It is not clear who, if any, of the ministers will stay. Traditionally the finance minister, currently Alberto Arenas, remains in place for the entire four years of an administration.

Bachelet said she had delayed the announcement while the country dealt with bad weather and the effects of the eruption of the Calbuco volcano.

jm/gsw (EFE, AP)

In Costa Rica, Turrialba volcano spits ash and smoke

The Turrialba volcano has spewed a fresh column of smoke and ash that reached Costa Rica's capital, San Jose, 60 kilometers away, authorities say. Its previous rumble had come just last Thursday.

Deutsche Welle, 5 May 2015

The moderate eruption, which included rocks around the crater area, hit at about 2100 UTC on Monday, raising eyebrows but not great alarm about 40 miles away, in Costa Rica's capital, San Jose, the Volcanic and Seismic Center reported.

Accompanied by a strong smell of sulfur and a coating of ash falling from as high as 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) in San Jose, the eruption of the the 3,340-meter (10,950-foot) volcano lasted about a half hour.

Inactive for 130 years, Turrialba rumbled back to life in the 1990s. In late October last year, the volcano erupted with great force, spewing ash and magma.

It has rumbled ever since. An eruption in early March (pictured) shut down Juan Santamaría, the main international airport, for nearly two days. Monday's eruption did not look like it would lead to flight cancellations.

VIDEO - #CostaRica's #Turrialba #volcano erupting on 4/5/15. Explosion at 0:33. Watch here: http://t.co/9FfzSQPDo2 pic.twitter.com/kwDVaEvwbX

— Susie Martin Wx (@smartinWX) 4 mei 2015

There have been a number of natural disasters owing to seismic activity in recent weeks. Nepal is facing a long rebuilding process after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake in April devastated the country.

In late April, the eruption of a volcano in Chile shut down airports in multiple South American countries. In eastern Congo, the active volcano Mount Nyiragongo has been called a ticking " time bomb."

mkg/bk (AFP, EFE, dpa, AP)

Flights disrupted as Chile volcano spews more ash

Yahoo – AFP, Miguel Sanchez, 26 April 2015

Local residents walk along a street covered with ashes from the Calbuco volcano

at La Ensenada, southern Chile, on April 25, 2015 (AFP Photo/Martin Bernetti)

Puerto Varas (Chile) (AFP) - Ash from Chile's spewing Calbuco volcano threatened Saturday to spell travel misery in the region and beyond after it triggered the cancellation of domestic and international flights in several cities.

A sleeping giant for more than 50 years, the volcano sprang to life in spectacular bursts of ash and lava Wednesday and Thursday, forcing 6,500 people living nearby to evacuate and blanketed southern Chile in suffocating volcanic debris.

A cow stands in a farm covered with 

ashes from the Calbuco volcano at 

La Ensenada, southern Chile, on April 25,

2015 (AFP Photo/Martin Bernetti)

It coughed out more fire and ash Saturday, with an ash cloud drifting eastward over Patagonia and Argentina, reaching Buenos Aires 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) away, where some airlines canceled flights to and from the United States and Europe.

In the Chilean capital Santiago, domestic flights operated normally but some international flights were scrubbed.

A handful of flights were scrapped at Montevideo's Carrasco International Airport, and authorities urged people to use face masks to avoid inhaling ash particles.

"The volcano remains unstable and eruptions, principally ash, will continue for now," Chile's National Geology and Mining Service said in its latest report.

Experts have cautioned that a third eruption could still follow.

A state of emergency has been in place since Wednesday and authorities emptied a 20-kilometer radius around Calbuco, which is located in Los Lagos, a region popular with tourists for its scenic mountain landscapes dotted with volcanoes and lakes with black-sand beaches.

A view of the Calbuco volcano in Puerto Varas, Chile, on April 24, 2015 (AFP

Photo/Martin Bernetti)

More people were ordered out from towns near Calbuco that were deemed at risk of flooding from snow and ice melting high in the mountains due to the volcano's heat. Authorities said they planned to evacuate about 4,000 sheep and cattle.

"I'm afraid and still thinking about leaving, but over the long term, I would still return to my land," said Carolina Bayern, who took refuge in a school with other evacuees.

Raul Rangel, who also was staying at the school, said he was no longer afraid of the volcano after it took out his home.

"I respect it," he added. "My house collapsed, and everything is destroyed, and I feel such great sadness."

Blanketed in ash

Southern Chile's verdant landscape has turned gray as ash has settled over vast expanses of farm land, especially in the immediate disaster zone around the volcano.

"There are fields that will be unusable for a long time," Agriculture Minister Carlos Furche told Radio Cooperativa.

The government said it is weighing whether to provide emergency payments to the hardest hit farmers, who fear they face financial ruin.

Volcanic lightnings and lava spew from

 the Calbuco volcano on April 23, 2015, as

 seen from Frutillar, Chile (AFP Photo/

Martin Bernetti)

On the other side of the expanding security perimeter, the evacuation area was turned into a scattering of ghost towns blanketed with ash up to one meter (three feet) thick, an AFP photographer said.

In La Ensenada, a town of 1,500 people that was the first to be evacuated, workers used heavy trucks to plow the roads clear as a handful of residents ignored the evacuation order to shovel the ash and debris off their rooftops.

The 2,000-meter volcano last erupted in 1961 and showed light activity in 1972, according to official data. There have been no known fatalities from this week's eruptions.

It is the second volcano to erupt in Chile since March 3, when the Villarrica volcano emitted a brief but fiery burst of ash and lava.

Chile has about 90 active volcanoes.

The long, thin country has been hit by a series of natural disasters in recent months, from flooding in its usually arid north, home to the world's driest desert, to wildfires in its drought-hit southern forests.

Cars are seen amid volcanic ashes from the Calbuco volcano in La Ensenada, 

on April 23, 2015 (AFP Photo/Martin Bernetti)

Thousands in Guatemala facing evacuation as Pacaya volcano erupts

BBC News, 2 March 2014

The volcano, with a height of 2,500m (8,300 feet), is a popular tourist destination

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A volcano has erupted in Guatemala, prompting the authorities to consider the evacuation of some 3,000 people living in the area.

The Pacaya volcano began spewing ash and lava after a powerful explosion on Saturday afternoon.

New explosions were seen on Sunday, with ash clouds reaching a height or at least 4km (3 miles).

Flights have been diverted from the area, some 50km (30 miles) south of the capital, Guatemala City.

The Pacaya is one of three active volcanoes in the Central American nation. The other two are the Fuego and the Santa Maria.

"We are assessing with the National Disaster Management Centre (Conred) whether we will need to evacuate the 3,000 people who live in the villages of El Rodeo and Patrocinio," said the Pacaya National Park director, Humberto Morales.

"Access to the areas around the volcano has been suspended," he told the Prensa Libre newspaper.

The Guatemalan authorities have issued an amber alert, the third highest. It means people must remain alert and be prepared to leave the area at short notice.

Guatemala Fuego volcano eruption triggers evacuation

BBC News, 13 September 2012

An ash cloud quickly spread after the Fuego's eruption

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Guatemala is evacuating tens of thousands of people after the Fuego volcano started spewing ash and lava.

Volcanologists said powerful eruptions were catapulting burning rocks as high as 1,000m (3,280ft) above the crater and lava was flowing down its slopes.

Locals reported how the roaring of the volcano shook windows and roofs in nearby villages.

Experts say the eruption of the Fuego, 50km (31 miles) south-west of Guatemala City, is the biggest since 1999.

Head of Emergency Evacuations Sergio Cabanas told the Associated Press news agency that more than 33,000 people were being evacuated.

Officials from the National Institute of Seismology, Volcanology, Meteorology and Hydrology (Insivumeh) said lava was covering a 7km (4.3-mile) area on the south and south-western side of the Fuego.

The authorities recommended that air traffic controllers suspend flights in the vicinity of the volcano, as the ash cloud emanating from its crater was spreading quickly.

The 3,760m-tall (12,336ft) Fuego is one of Central America's most active volcanoes, according to the Smithsonian Institute's Global Volcanism Program.

Guatemalans climb volcano in protest against violence

BBC News, 22 January 2012

Related Stories 

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More than 600 women were murdered in
the small Central American country last
year

Around 12,000 Guatemalans have climbed an extinct volcano in a protest against domestic violence.

The activists formed what they hope was the world's longest human chain all the way to the peak of the 3,765m (12,352 feet) Volcan de Agua.

Among those taking part in the "Walk for Life" was Guatemala's new President, Otto Perez Molina.

Guatemala has one of the highest murder rates in the world, and domestic violence is a particular problem.

The Volcan de Agua or "Water Volcano" - also known as Hunahpu by the indigenous Maya - towers above the colonial city of Antigua, 45km (28 miles) southeast of Guatemala City.

"We want violence to end in this country, we don't want Guatemala to be one of the most violent countries in the world," President Perez Molina said as he joined the crowds hiking to the top.

Mr Perez Molina - a former army general - took office last week promising tough action against violent crime.

'Generational change'

Also taking part in the climb was British ambassador Julie Chappell whose embassy helped fund and organise the event.

"We're trying to get young leaders to start a generational change in attitudes where people say - until now we've sort of accepted that there is this culture of violence, but no more", Ms Chappell said.

The Guatemalan authorities receive tens of thousands of reports of domestic violence each year, and last year 550 women were murdered.

The Central American country has one of the highest murder rates in the world, but less than 4% of cases end in a successful conviction.

The violence is partly seen as a legacy of the 1960-96 civil war between the state and left-wing guerrillas, in which more than 200,000 people were killed, most of them by the army.

New dramatic footage of Chile Puyehue volcano eruption

.

The cloud of ash spewing from a volcano in Chile grounded more flights on Tuesday in South America, forcing Peru's president-elect to cross a river by boat and threatening to delay the start of the continent's football championship. The schedule of next month's Copa America could be altered if the ash cloud from Chile's Cordon Caulle volcano keeps grounding flights, Argentine Football Association President Julio Grondona said.

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Chile: Puyehue volcano erupts forcing mass evacuation

Chile: Puyehue volcano erupts forcing mass evacuation

BBC News, 4 June 2011

A volcano has erupted in southern Chile, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of people living nearby.

Large columns of smoke have been seen rising from the Puyehue volcano, about 800km (500 miles) south of the capital Santiago.

Witnesses also reported a strong smell of ash and sulphur. A dozen small earthquakes were recorded before the eruption began.

The officials have issued a red alert - the maximum warning level for the area.

Evacuation orders were issued for some 3,500 people, the local authorities said.

They added that the residents would be relocated in shelters in safe areas.

So far there have been no reports of any injuries.

A column of smoke and ash rises from Chile's Puyehue
volcano after it started erupting for the first time in decades.
Photograph: Martin Iniguez/AP

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Ecuador Volcano Tungurahua Explodes Again: Peole Fear For Their Lives

Daily News Pulse, by Alex Warne on May 7, 2011, 6:26 am

Thundering explosions could be heard miles from Tungurahua, which is on the Andes cordillera 84 miles (135 kilometers) southeast of Ecuador’s capital, Quito. A state Geophysics Institute scientist monitoring the volcano from a nearby observation post said by phone that incandescent boulders were landing up to 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) beneath crater level.

“The smallest blocks are that size of an automobile while the biggest reach the size of a truck, which cause impact craters up to 10 meters (33 feet) wide as they hit the flanks,” the scientist, Silvana Hidalgo, told The Associated Press.

Active Volcano

Tungurahua, one of the eight active volcanoes in the Andean nation, has been active since 1999. Though one of its strongest eruptions took place in 2008, it had already proved itself deadly, when at least four people were killed and thousands forced to evacuate during a series of eruptions, which took place in July and August of 2006.

A Lot Of Damage

“According to our observations, damages to crops, pastures and small effects to the health of people are already evident,” the country’s geophysics institute said. Officials first detected increased activity in the volcano April 20, with monitors observing regular small eruptions of ash and gas. The glacier-capped, 16,478-foot volcano has erupted periodically since 1999, when increased activity led to the temporary evacuation of the city of Banos at the foot of the volcano. Tungurahua erupted in December, sending ash and lava spewing nearly a mile into the sky. Major eruptions also occurred in August 2006 and February 2008, according to the government’s emergency management agency.      

Orange Alert

“We have an orange alert in the area near the Tungurahua volcano,” said Maria Cornejo with the government’s risk assessment office. The villages of Cusua, Bilbao and Chacauco were asked to evacuate, she said. The volcano started experiencing increased activity on Wednesday. The government issued an alert Thursday for the provinces of Tungurahua and then Chimborazo and Pastaza.