Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuadorean authorities said Monday that up to 325,000 people live in areas that could be threatened by fast-moving mud and rock flows if there is a major eruption of the Cotopaxi volcano.
Top disaster official Maria del Pilar Cornejo briefed reporters as bad weather scrapped a planned flyover of the snow-capped 5,897-meter (19,600-foot) volcano, which is 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Quito.
Cotopaxi last rumbled Saturday, when it shot ash more than two miles high and spilled some lava. Four hundred people were evacuated briefly.
The volcano began showing renewed activity in April. Its last major eruption was in 1877.
President Rafael Correa decreed prior censorship Saturday on the volcano, worrying press freedom groups. All media are prohibited from publishing information about Cotopaxi that doesn't come from an official source.
___
The story has been corrected to indicate that up to 325,000 people potentially affected by a major eruption of Cotopaxi.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
