According to IG volcanologist Patricia Mothes, this is an unusual number of earthquakes, since before October the volcano produced about 650 telluric movements per month, an increase of 146 percent over the usual.

There are days of relative calm, which quickly pass into periods of intense activity, which causes great concern among the IG specialists,’ Mothes explained.

Figures from the Geophysical Institute show that the volcano has emitted an average of two thousand tons of gases per day since October 2022, a figure considered normal for the eruptive process that the volcano is undergoing.

However, the monitoring teams have proposed three possible scenarios for the situation imposed by the volcano.

The first, according to Mothes, would be that the volcano continues to emit ash and gases as it has done since October 2022.

A second scenario, she added, has to do with a significant increase in seismic activity, accompanied by a greater amount of ash and pyroclastic flows.

And the last, and least likely,” Mothes clarified, “is a large-scale eruption causing severe damage.

More than three million people would be affected by an eruption of Cotopaxi, according to the South American country’s National Risk Service.

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