Authorities temporarily closed the Popayan airport as the volcano remained on orange alert over the risk of an eruption.

On Monday, the Purace volcano, located in Colombia’s Cauca department and under an orange alert for the risk of an eruption for a month, made a powerful emission of ash and gases.

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This occurred on the same day that Colombian authorities were responding to an emergency caused by a magnitude 7.4 earthquake that has so far left 24 people dead.

Purace continues to show an increase in seismic energy and in the temperature of emissions of ash and gases such as sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide.

That situation led the Civil Aeronautics Authority (Aerocivil) to order the temporary closure of Guillermo Leon Valencia Airport in Popayan, the capital of Cauca, because of the risk that ash and gases pose to air navigation.

The closure of Popayan airport adds to that of seven other airports that suffered structural damage from the earthquake: Cali, Pereira, Manizales, Quibdo, Armenia, Cartago, and Buenaventura.

The Colombian Geological Service (SGC) however, ruled out a direct connection between the ash emission from Purace volcano and the earthquake, whose epicenter was in the department of Choco, explaining that they are independent natural phenomena.

Purace is located 27 kilometers from Popayan and is one of the 15 cones that make up the Coconucos volcanic chain. Its last eruption of considerable magnitude occurred in March 1977, although it has been showing gradual changes in its activity since 2021.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

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