Ecuador's Cotopaxi Volcano Emits 1.8-Km-High Steam Plume

Since Thursday, the Cotopaxi volcano has been emitting a column of gases and steam that reached 1,800 meters above the crater on Friday.

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Currently, however, the volcano maintains low activity and is not in an eruptive process, said the Geophysical Institute (IG), which monitors the behavior of the volcano in case it registers seismic signals.

Since the end of October, Cotopaxi began to release gases, steam, and ash into the air. Among the gases detected are sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide, which have "a magmatic contribution," according to the IG specialists.

Cotopaxi is Ecuador's second highest volcano and is located 5,897 meters above sea level in the Andes Mountains, about 45 kilometers southeast of Quito.

Described from a geological perspective, Cotopaxi "is a symmetrical, glacier-clad stratovolcano... Its steep-sided cone is capped by nested summit craters, the largest of which is about 1,800 x 2,600 feet in diameter," The Watchers outlet recalled.

This active volcano is surrounded by fertile valleys that are home to agricultural businesses and densely populated towns.

Although the its last significant eruption took place in 1904, historical records show that this Andean volcano also erupted in 1744, 1768, and 1877.

In the 1877 eruption, the lahars caused by melting ice traveled over 62 miles in direction to both the Pacific Ocean and the Amazon basin.