Turrialba Volcano spews more ash over Costa Rica’s Central Valley in Easter eruption

Update 2:31 p.m., April 5: Police Chief Juan José Andrade confirms that police are evacuating tourists in areas surrounding Turrialba Volcano. Police were forced to evacuate a group of tourists that had attempted to approach the volcano to watch the explosion.

Geologists with the National University’s Volcanological and Seismological Observatory (OVSICORI) reported another ash eruption from Turrialba Volcano starting at 11:24 a.m. Sunday and lasting for an hour. The eruption is the latest in a string of blasts since October from the active volcano, located 50 kilometers northeast of the capital San José.

According to OVSICORI, the column of ash reached 500 meters into the sky over the volcano and rained large quantities of ash onto nearby farms. As of 1:30 p.m. the volcano was still emitting large quantities of gas and vapor though very little ash. Winds have carried the volcanic dust southwest where it has reached the outskirts of the capital. There are reports of large quantities of ash East of San José in Tres Ríos and San Pedro as well as in the western suburb of Escazú.

OVSICORI’s equipment also registered a small, three-minute tremor at the time of the eruption.

OVSICORI is asking people who witness ash to report its location on their website.

Watch Turrialba’s latest eruption from the OVSICORI cameras

In March, a similar eruption shut down the Juan Santamaría International Airport stranding thousands of travelers, while eruptions in October and November of last year caused severe damage to the crops and livestock surrounding Turrialba.