Ecuador Volcano Poised for Major Eruption, May Be Within Days

QUITO, Ecuador — Ecuador's Tungurahua volcano is poised for a major eruption, a volcanologist said Wednesday. Authorities last week evacuated 10 villages from its western slopes as a precaution.
 
Patricia Mothes, a U.S. expert on volcanoes, said the 16,575-foot volcano, located 80 miles southeast of Quito, "is preparing to generate, in days or weeks, a great eruption."
 
She said that could mean pyroclastic flows — blasts of volcanic material "that descend at high speeds and burn everything in their way."