QCOSTARICA – Following days of passive, “normal” eruptive activity, that has ongoing for the past weeks, the Turrialba volcano blew its stack this morning, spewing ash one kilometre above the crater.
The 5:10am “important” eruption was the third since Wednesday night, according to the Observatorio Vulcanológico y Sismológico de Costa Rica (Ovsicori) – Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa
Watch the video of this morning’s eruption.
The first eruption occurred at 10:40pm Wednesday, the second at 12:37am Thursday.
The ash and gas expelled by colossus dispersed north and northwest (in the direction of San Jose and surrounding areas) according to the OVSICORI cameras and the weather stations by the Instituto Meteorológico Nacional (IMN) – National Meteorological Institute – located atop the volcano.
The Turrialba has been very active so far in 2016 with eruptions that have exceeded the 3,000 metres high and expulsion of stones.
Experts are not ruling out the possibility the volcano is getting ready for a major eruption, they do feel that the spewing is lava is unlikely. And if it does, the lava flow would be on the north side of the volcano, and travel a distance of not more than one kilometre through an area inhabited.
According to experts in medicine, respiratory tract, eyes and skin are the body parts most affected by falling ash ejected by the Turrialba. Some of the problems are caused by ash mucosal dryness, irritation of the eyes and skin, dry cough and sore throat.
