El Salvador Volcano Erupts For First Time In 37 Years

A volcano erupted in eastern El Salvador on Sunday, shooting a mass of grey ash into the air and forcing thousands of residents to evacuate their homes.

El Salvador's Chaparrastique volcano, which hasn't erupted in 37 years, began to erupt around 10:30 a.m. and gushed out a column of gas over three miles high, CNN reported. Airline companies canceled flights in and out of the country. President Mauricio Funes strongly encouraged residents near the volcano in the San Miguel region to seek shelter elsewhere.

"We are not certain there will be new eruptions, but we can't rule out the possibility either," Funes said in a televised statement, according to CNN.

According to Reuters, rescue officials evacuated nearly 5,000 residents living within two miles of the eruption.

"We are providing assistance to people evacuating, and we are asking them to protect themselves against the gases, which can affect the respiratory tract," assistant Health Minister Eduardo Espinoza told the Associated Press.

Espinoza said two people were taken to hospitals for respiratory problems. Other than that, Funes said the volcano, located almost 90 miles from the capital San Salvador, "has not caused serious injuries or damages," the AP reported.

Though there were no injuries, authorities urged people to breathe through moist pieces of cloth to mask the heavy smell of sulfur. There's also concern for the many coffee plantations, which the region is known for, Reuters reported.

Santos Osorio, a member of a coffee growers union, told Reuters he saw thick ash falling in the area where the plantations are and that the potential damages will have to be inspected. With 26 eruptions in the past 500 years, Chaparrastique is considered one of the most active of El Salvador's 23 active volcanoes, Reuters reported. The volcano's last eruption was in 1976.

The Environment Ministry said Monday that pictures of the volcano show "moderate" activity compared to the miles high column of smoke seen on Sunday, the AP reported.