Islanders flee volcano

PORT VILA, Vanuatu (AP) — Thousands of villagers living near a volcano spewing ash and steam on the Vanuatu island of Ambae have been evacuated amid fears of an eruption, officials said today.

Mt. Manaro, which cradles a volcanic lake in its crater, began tossing out ash and a towering plume of steam on Nov. 27. Douglas Charlie, a local volcanologist, said the lake bed was in danger of being torn open by the trembling mountain, causing "a gigantic explosion" as the water hit the hot volcanic magma.

The lake also is being forced up toward the rim, sparking fears of a mud flow that could flow toward the villages that surround the mountain.

Officials ordered 5,000 people living in 15 villages to move to the island's coast. Ambae itself has a total of 10,000 residents.

Since the volcano's activity started, some 2,000 tons of ash has been falling daily around the mountain base, and white steam billows 4,500 feet above its cone.

New Zealand volcanologist Steve Sherburn told The Associated Press Mt. Manaro "currently is trembling or vibrating all the time" and said the current movement "seems to be typical of some of the larger eruptions that we've had."

Vanuatu, an archipelago of more than 80 islands and a nation of 200,000 people, is about 1,400 miles northeast of Sydney, Australia.