Volcano Journal Entry

Lava Gushes From Tungurahua (February 4, 2010)

Ecuador's Tungurahua volcano spat out sizzling blocks and fountains of lava, while thick clouds of ash rose high into the sky above the Andes Mountains. The ash plume stretched 40 miles (60 kilometers) southwest of the volcano's peak. Some of the ash showered down on towns within earshot of the loud explosions.

Scientists say magma may be on the move inside the 16,500-foot (4,950-meter) volcano found 90 miles (150 km) south of the capital Quito. People living close to Tungurahua are watching it with jittery nerves. Two years ago, an eruption blanketed towns with ash and forced more than 3,000 people to flee their homes. In 2006, four people were killed and 5,000 homes were destroyed in an eruption that scorched thousands of acres of farmland.

Tungurahua lies in the region where the Nazca tectonic plate subducts or dives beneath the huge South American plate. Crust from the subducting plate melts as it plunges into the hot upper mantle, forming magma. Some of the magma eventually rises to the surface through the region's many volcanoes.