(QCOSTARICA) The Comisión Nacional de Emergencia (CNE) – National Emergency Commission, denies the extending of the security ring around the Turrialba volcano is due to an imminent eruption.
The CNE explains the now 5 kilometre ring (up from 2) is to allow a wider area for monitoring the colossus.
Since Saturday afternoon the Turrialba has recorded a dozen eruptions, at intervals of about every three hours on average, each lasting up to 30 minutes or more.
The CNE says the decision is not synonymous with evacuations, it just to keep out the curious from entering dangerous areas such as La Silvia and La Picada.
The commission is maintaining a “yellow” alert for the cantones of Turriabla and Alvarado.
Experts say the volcano is now entering a more sustained phase of more frequent and less intense eruptions, and confirm that the crater has changed its form and has widened due to the eruptions.
The Turrilaba began its eruptive phase last October.
