QUITO, Ecuador (Reuters) - Ecuador's Guagua Pichincha volcano belched a huge cloud of ash over Quito on Tuesday, closing the capital's airport and schools and forcing choking residents to wear face masks.
The cloud, up to seven miles (11 km) high and 27 miles (44 km) in diameter, caused uneasiness among Quito's 1.2 million residents as it darkened the city's skies around 3 p.m. (2 p.m. EDT/1800 GMT), and people rushed to close windows.
Volcanologists said the cloud was part of a slow decompression process begun on Monday that could see the volcano spewing ash and vapor for months or even years. But they said there was no danger of the volcano exploding.
Alexandra Alvarado, of the state-run Geophysics Institute, told Reuters: ``The cloud of ashes is falling over almost all Quito. It was expected.''
Quito Mayor Roque Sevilla urged residents to remain calm, saying experts had been expecting the ash cloud.
Authorities closed the international airport in the centre of the city to prevent ash damaging planes. They did not say how many flights were suspended or when the airport would be reopened.
Classes in Quito schools were suspended until further notice, forcing 400,000 students to stay home. Schools were closed Tuesday following an earlier eruption of ash, but had been due to reopen on Wednesday.
Quito was put on ``orange alert'' on Monday last week but in light of decreasing volcano activity the alert was downgraded to ``yellow'' on Monday.
Quito, at 9,600 feet (2,900 metres) above sea level in the Andes, is surrounded by nine active volcanoes.
Earlier on Tuesday, an explosion of gases on Tungurahua volcano, 106 miles (170 km) away from Guagua Pichincha, injured an Australian climber and his Ecuadorean guide who were hiking near its summit. They were rescued by Civil Defense workers and local police.
Tungurahua and Guagua Pichincha are two of 31 active volcanoes in the small Andean nation of 12.2 million people.
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