Vanuatu Volcano Eruption Leads to Emergency Evacuation

The Pacific island nation of Vanuatu has imposed a state of emergency and urged thousands of people to evacuate after a volcano on the island Ambae erupted, sending ash so thick skywards that the sun was blocked. Ash fall was so thick that emergency responders told CNN that it was nearly impossible to get to affected areas. “We tried to travel to the south today but we have to turn back, because trees are falling, visibility is very very poor, we cannot see far more than 2 meters,” Augustin Garae of the Red Cross told CNN. “The situation is getting worse now in the south, people are now leaving their homes and move to evacuation centers in the east.” It’s not the first time the entire island has been evacuated: In September 2017, Vanuatu issued another emergency evacuation when the same volcano on Ambae erupted.