By Wendy Anders

At 5:00 yesterday evening the National University’s Volcanology and Seismology Research Institute (Ovsicori-UNA) reported that ash had been emanating constantly from Costa Rica’s Turrialba Volcano for the previous 24 hours.

A brief break in the cloud cover yesterday around 4:00 p.m. showed a column rising about 500 meters above the crater.

Ash was being dispersed in areas to the northwest of the volcano, and was reported in areas including Coronado, Moravia, Sabana North, Pavas, San Isidro, Heredia, and even as far as Naranjo in the Alajuela province.

Friday and Saturday were also moderately active days for the colossus, reported Ovsicori, with almost continual emissions of ash, gases and aerosols. Friday night and into Saturday morning, winds shifted primarily to a northwesterly direction, scattering ashes and gases to dairy farms between the Turrialba and Irazú Volcanos and the Braulio Carrillo National Park. However, the volcanic plume did not exceed 500 meters above the summit of the volcano earlier this weekend, said Ovsicori.