Galapagos volcanic eruption not a threat

QUITO, Ecuador – The eruption of a volcano on the largest of the Galapagos Islands is not a threat to villagers or to the remote archipelago’s unique flora and fauna, including the famed giant tortoises, officials said Monday.

Pablo Gordillo, mayor of Puerto Villamil, a village of 2,000 people on seahorse-shaped Isabela, said there was no danger two days after the mile-high Sierra Negra volcano began erupting.

Gordillo said there were no groups of the giant tortoises in the path of the lava flow. He said there was “at most iguanas,” which can easily escape the flow.

Washington Tapia, director of the Galapagos National Park, agreed, saying that the tortoise and iguana populations in the area are not threatened.

Tapia said park rangers had flown over the volcano and observed that the lava was flowing from a fissure at the top of the volcano back into the interior. He said no one has been evacuated.

The last time the volcano erupted was in 1979.