Galapagos Volcano Erupts After Decade of Dormancy

The Fernandina volcano, located on Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands, reactivated on Monday after a decade of dormancy.

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“The Fernandina giant has woken up,” Ecuadorean Environment Minister Tarsicio Granizo said on Twitter.

“We are monitoring the development of this natural event.”

Fernandina is the most active volcano in the Galapagos archipelago, considered to be one of the most important biological reserves in the world, and has a height of 4,842 feet.

The island is located over 620 miles off the coast of Ecuador and has no human population, but is home to iguanas, birds, penguins, sea lions and other endemic species.

The volcano has had more than 20 eruptions since 1983, with the last one taking place in 2009, according to data from the Geophysical Institute of the National Polytechnic School.

The Institute issued a statement on the reactivation of the volcano and reported that its seismic network began to detect activity at around 9:55 a.m. Galapagos time, one hour behind continental Ecuador.

At 2:28 p.m. local time, satellite images showed the presence of an eruptive cloud and lava, which spilled down the volcano’s western slope.

Fernandina Island, which receives its name from the volcano, is the third largest in the Galapagos, after Isabela and Santa Cruz.