グアテマラで火山噴火、火砕流発生　住民１０００人が避難

【アロテナンゴ（グアテマラ）ＡＦＰ＝時事】中米グアテマラで週末、火山が噴火し、当局は１０日までに近隣住民約１０００人を避難させた。（写真は、中米グアテマラで噴火したフエゴ山）
　噴火したのは、首都グアテマラ市から約３５キロ離れたフエゴ山。現場では火砕流が発生していると報告されている。
　防災調整委員会（ＣＯＮＲＥＤ）は、「約３万人が危険にさらされる可能性があり、状況に応じて避難の必要がある」と警告した。
　妻と３人の娘とともに避難した男性は、「地鳴りが聞こえ、その後に激しい噴火が起こった」とＡＦＰに語った。
　グアテマラは環太平洋火山帯に位置し、地震や火山活動が頻発する。フエゴ山は２０１８年にも大規模な噴火を起こし、村が壊滅。２１５人が死亡し、同数の行方不明者が出た。
　ＣＯＮＲＥＤによると、当局は１０日までに警戒を発令し、対応策を調整している。また、山の斜面を下降する火砕流の監視も行っている。
　国立火山研究所は、火山灰の雲が広がっていることから、航空交通への注意を呼びかけた。火山活動は弱まっているとされているが、噴火自体は依然、終息しておらず、引き続き警戒が必要としている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2025/03/11-16:51）

Guatemalan authorities evacuated around 1,000 people Monday after Central America's most active volcano erupted, spewing lava, ash and rocks.
By night, however, the eruption was declared over, and evacuees were allowed to begin returning to their homes.
Residents with traumatic memories of a deadly eruption in 2018 sought refuge early Monday after the Fuego volcano exploded spectacularly 35 kilometers (22 miles) from the capital Guatemala City.
We heard the rumblings and then a strong eruption, Manuel Cobox, 46, told AFP after leaving his home with his wife and three daughters.
Some 125 families, around 900 people, were moved to safety from the community of El Porvenir, said Juan Laureano, a spokesman for Guatemala's disaster coordination agency, Conred.
Residents of another community in Las Lajitas were also evacuated, the official added.
Buses brought evacuees carrying belongings to a town hall turned into a temporary shelter, while others stayed with friends or relatives.
Around 30,000 people were potentially at risk and should evacuate themselves if necessary, Conred head Claudinne Ogaldes told a news conference.
By late Monday, though, the eruptive episode was declared ended and the volcano's parameters returned to normal levels following the dramatic increase of activity from Sunday, the state-run Volcanology Institute said in a bulletin.
Guatemala lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire and experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity.
In June 2018, 215 people were killed and a similar number left missing when Fuego volcano erupted, sending rivers of lava pouring down its sides and devastating the village of San Miguel Los Lotes.
On that occasion, residents did not believe the magnitude and a tragedy struck, said Cobox, who works on a pig farm.
Amanda Santos, a 58-year-old housekeeper, said that memories of that previous eruption came flooding back when she heard the firefighters' sirens.
That's why we're afraid. Many people died, she added.
Another eruption in 2023 from the 3,763-meter (12,346-foot) Fuego caused the evacuation of around 1,200 people.
An alert was issued by the authorities on Sunday in order to coordinate the response and preventive measures, Conred said.
The government suspended local school activities, although classes were now set to resume Tuesday.
Officials also temporarily closed a road through the village that links the south of the country to the colonial city of Antigua, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Guatemala's most popular tourist destination.
Authorities had been monitoring pyroclastic flows -- fast-moving currents of hot ash, gas and rock fragments that descend the slopes of a volcano, Conred spokesman Laureano said.
The Volcanology Institute recommended that air traffic take precautions due to a spreading ash cloud.