Ubinas Volcano, the most active volcano in Peru, has been emitting massive ash clouds of up to 14,750 foot tall or 4,500 meters in height since Tuesday, April 15, which prompted the Peruvian authorities to raise the alert level from Yellow to Orange, to order a preventive evacuation of about 4,000 residents near the volcano and to take other precautionary measures, gathered reports said.
Moving the residents of two southern districts, along with their 30,000 animals will take three days starting Thursday, said Peru Agriculture Minister Juan Benites. Residents nearby have been provided with safety gears such as protective masks and glasses as well.
The government also has declared a state of emergency to the provinces near the volcano and will also provide financial aid to those affected residents located near Arequipa, the second-most populous city in Peru and is southeast of Peru's capital Lima.
"Recent activity shows the increasing energy of the explosions and the greater height of the eruption column with gas and ash. However, this activity has not reached the levels that have occurred in the last major eruption between years 2006 and 2009," said [video] Jose Machere of the Institute of Geophysics in Peru.
Sometime in 2006, a major eruption killed livestock that consumed ash-coated grass and forced thousands of residents to evacuate
Since Sunday, there were some small to moderate volcanic explosions and ash clouds coming from Ubinas, but the volcano's activity this week has increased. INGEMMET, Peru's geologic, mining and metallurgical institute, said it is the latest of an ongoing series of small volcanic eruptions of Ubinas.
The cause of the eruption remains unclear, as per various reports, but several seismologists pointed to the possible "geological instability" of Chile's 8.2 magnitude earthquake on April 1. INGEMMET, meanwhile, said it has been observing the volcano for the past six months.
Other reports said around 40 persons have already complained of stomach problems and eye inflammation from the falling ash of the volcano.
Further research says the cleanup after the volcanic activity will be slow because of the large area covered by the ash fall. Residents in the Querapi area most likely will also move permanently to Pampas de Hawai to prevent further health problems and air quality concerns, which the volcano could give.
Oldest eruptions of the Ubinas volcano dates back to 1550, and then became dormant for almost 40 years prior to the eruption 2006. The Ubinas Volcano is about 18,609 foot tall or 5,672 meters.
