Galapagos Wolf Volcano eruption causes scientists to flee

An aerial view of lava spewing from a fissure of the Wolf Volcano after it erupted for the second time in seven years, on Isabela Island in the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean. AFP

A fissure of the Wolf Volcano. Scientists and park guards fled one of the Galapagos Islands on Friday after the Wednesday eruption of the archipelago's largest volcano. AFP

An aerial view of lava expelled by the Wolf Volcano. AFP

A cloud of gas and ash rose to 3,793 metres above sea level, but there was no immediate danger to populated areas, which are located at the opposite side of Isabela Island. AFP

Lava spewing from the Wolf Volcano. AFP

Scientists and park guards were forced to leave one of the Galapagos Islands on Friday after the eruption of the archipelago's largest volcano.

Lava spewed down the sides of the Wolf Volcano, which first erupted on Wednesday, as it released clouds of ash over the Pacific Ocean, Ecuador’s Geophysical Institute reported.

Images circulated by the Ecuadoran government show glowing lava piercing through the predawn darkness.

A cloud of gas and ash rose to 3,793 metres above sea level, but there was no immediate danger to populated areas, located on the opposite side of Isabela Island, the largest in the Galapagos chain.

But the Environment Ministry said eight people, including national park guards and scientists doing field work on pink iguanas living on the volcano’s slopes, were told to leave the area.

The 1,701-metre volcano is one of several active volcanoes in the Galapagos, which lie about 1,000 kilometres from mainland South America.

The volcano last erupted in 2015.