Ecuador volcano spews melted rocks, villages evacuated

PINGUE, Ecuador, July 16 (Reuters) The Tungurahua volcano spewed ash, gas and melted rocks for the second day straight, sending hundreds of Ecuadorean villagers crowding into schools and churches seeking refuge.

Tungurahua, located about 80 miles south of Quito, has been increasingly active since May, when it shot out large clouds of hot gas and prompted officials to renew a limited state of emergency in nearby towns.

Civil defense authorities and police continued to evacuate seven small villages around the volcano, whose name means ''throat of fire'' in the indigenous Quichua language.

Civil defense authorities said more than 3,600 people have been evacuated from the highest risk areas near the volcano.

''We need water, food and medicine ... but we are lucky we had no deaths or people hurt,'' said Juan Salazar, the mayor of Pinipe County on the outskirts of the volcano.

The Tungurahua's crater has blasted molted rocks during the two days, burning trees and grass on its way down in the volcano's highest recorded activity since it started erupting in 1999, local scientists said.

Lava flows blocked roads and destroyed bridges while people fled their farming hamlets tucked in the skirts of 16,460-foot Tungurahua.

''I have lived here my whole life and I have never seen something like this,'' said Alvira Marino, a corn farmer standing next to the road leading to her village.

Patricio Ramon the chief scientist with the local geophysics institute camped near the volcano said the Tungurahua ''is entering a new and different stage with more violent releases of magma and energy.'' ''We need to be prepared for the worse even when the volcano's activity has decreased yesterday,'' Ramon said.

In a 4-hour visit to the affected villages, President Alfredo Palacio said the country needs to prepare ''for the worse case scenario'' and promised 5.7 million dollar in relief funds to the region.

Many fleeing villagers took refuge at schools and churches in the nearby town of Pingue only a few miles away from the Tungurahua.

''I had to run for my life,'' said Wilber Rodriguez, 24, laying on a mattress with his wife and toddler son inside a school's classroom. ''But I have to go back... Everything I have is in my village.'' Rosa Bonilla, a 72-year-old corn farmer, said she fled with her family after her home was almost knocked down due to the repeated volcanic explosions.

''I though my house was going to come down on us,'' Bonilla said rested with her husband in a make-shift refuge in Pingue. ''I pray we can come back soon.'' The volcano's crater is little more than a mile south of the tourist town of Banos whose 17,000 residents were forced to evacuate in 1999 after loud explosions and huge plumes of ash billowed out of the volcano.

Other emergency centers were set up in Banos to receive any residents fleeing from nearby villages.

REUTERS DKS BD0607