The waking Cotopaxi volcano has prompted a state of emergency in Ecuador, where several villages have already been evacuated for fears of the formation of lahar flows.
On Friday, the Cotopaxi volcano began spewing flows of molten glass and rock. There are fears that these "pyroclastic" flows could trigger lahars, landslides of volcanic debris.
Rafael Correa, president of Ecuador, said Saturday that his administration was declaring the state of emergency, "based on the activity of the Cotopaxi volcano."
"Why have I made that decision? To secure resources, to address a potential emergency and mobilize the necessary resources," said Correa. "God willing, everything will go well and the volcano will not erupt."
Roughly 400 people have already voluntarily been placed in shelters, according to Correa. Residents of Cotopaxi province -- namesake of the fuming, 19,000 feet tall volcano -- have begun evacuated river settlements and cities about 28 miles south of capitol city Quito, according to Pablo Morillo, head of the Secretariat for Risk Management.
"We will maintain the same alert, but since there are still no lahar flows, the evacuation order is still only preventive," Morillo said.
In another preventive measure, the city of Quito is distributing surgical masks to 2.3 million people across the metro area, according to Quito Mayor Mauricio Roda.
Ecuador and its eight active volcanoes are part of what's called the Pacific Ring of Fire. On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, another region of the Ring of Fire is waking up and prompting fears in Japan.
Also on Saturday, Japan's weather agency warned that the Sakurajima volcano could be nearing a "large-scale" eruption."
"The possibility for a large-scale eruption has become extremely high for Sakurajima," the weather agency said.
The volcano, an island before an eruption pushed it ashore, sits just south of Kagoshima and the city's 600,000 residents. Right not, it appears that the warning applies to at least 4,000 people in the area.
Mount Sakurajima, which last erupted in 2013, is still mostly surrounded by water, despite its southern edge of Kagoshima Prefecture. Reiko Kawamori, 85, who lives on Sakurajima, hasn't had to evacuate the mountain in 70 years there, but this latest warning has her worried, she said.
"I learned it was raised to that level for evacuation preparations through the community wireless system," said Kawamori. "I feel uneasy because it is the first time for me to make evacuation preparations although I have lived on Sakurajima for about 70 years. I have packed my valuables so that I can get out of here immediately if something."
