Volcano erupts in Ecuador, creates spectacular ash plume

QUITO, Ecuador — Ecuador’s Tungurahua volcano has spewed a 6-mile column of ash after a powerful, five-minute explosion that shot pyroclastic material onto its northern and northwestern flanks.

Ecuador’s geophysics institute said Friday’s blast occurred at 6:10 p.m. local time and was followed by a second, four-minute explosion and five lesser tremors.

The 16,480-foot volcano, nearly 90 miles south of Quito, revived on Feb. 1, with eruptions that affected a third of Ecuador’s provinces and temporarily closed a regional airport.

Tungurahua has been erupting sporadically since 1999. In 2006, a pyroclastic cloud killed four people and left two missing.