Dowbrigade

QUITO, Ecuador — Ecuador’s Tungurahua volcano is
emitting its loudest and most frequent explosions since it rumbled back
to life nearly seven years ago after eight decades of inactivity, scientists
said.

The volcano registered 133 explosions of vapor and gas between Wednesday
and Friday, Ecuador’s Geophysics Institute reported.

"It has been rumbling constantly in the last six years, always registering
explosions, emitting ash," he told The Associated Press.

"What’s happening now is that since May 10, we have had times in which
there are 10 explosions per hour, booms so powerful that they broke some
windows in sectors like Cusua," a village on the western slopes
of the volcano, Yepes added.

Residents say the thunderous explosions have not been so loud since 1999,
Yepes said.
In October of that year, the volcano spewed huge columns of ash into
the air, forcing the evacuation of 17,000 residents of Ba