Nicaraguan volcano spews rocks and ash

MANAGUA, Jan 10 (Reuters) Nicaragua's Telica volcano, one of six active in the Central American nation, threw a column of ash and gas hundreds of feet into the air.

Around 2,500 people live close to the volcano, but no one was evacuated.

A series of explosions and strong winds sent the ash and gas at least 1,640 feet above Telica's crater.

The 3,576-foot volcano, is close to Nicaragua's second largest city, Leon, in the east of the country.

''The volcano has seen explosions and abundent gas and ash emissions since three in the afternoon (0130 IST),'' seismologist Alejandro Morales from the Nicaraguan Territorial Studies Institute told Reuters.

The institute described the eruption as low intensity, but stronger than the volcano's normal activity.

Reuters DKS VP0702