The lava from an erupting Galapagos volcano did not affect the islands' famed giant tortoises as first feared, Galapagos National Park officials said today. The Cerro Azul volcano on Isabela Island erupted between Thursday and Sunday, unleashing a heavy flow of lava, park authorities said in a statement. Isabela, the largest island in the archipelago, is home to rare and unique flora and fauna, including the Galapagos giant tortoise, which can weigh more than 230 kilos and live more than 100 years.

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The collapse of the world's fastest-growing mud volcano could redirect nearby rivers and threaten villages in Indonesia, researchers said on Wednesday. The central part of the volcano on the island of Java is collapsing at a rate of up to three metres a day sporadically, they reported in the journal Environmental Geology. "Sidoarjo is a populated region and is collapsing as a result of the birth and growth of Lusi," Richard Davies, a geologist at Britain's University of Durham.

A towering cloud of hot ash, gas and molten rock spewed miles into the air by a volcano in southern Chile has partially collapsed, raising fears it could smother surrounding villages, an expert said on Tuesday. Luis Lara, a scientist with the government's geology and mining agency, said the column of ash, which had soared as high as 20 miles (30 km), was now about 4.5 miles (7 km). The column of debris, kept aloft by the pressure of constant eruptions, could collapse entirely, smothering the ghost town of Chaiten 6 miles (10 km) away with hot gas, ash and molten rocks.

Volcanic ash raining down from the Chilean volcano Chaiten may cause long-term environmental damage and harm the health of people and animals in picturesque Patagonia, scientists say. Ash from the volcano, which started erupting 10 days ago for the first time in thousands of years, is made up of pulverized rock containing all kinds of minerals.

Experts believe Chile's Chaiten volcano could continue belching out vast clouds of ash for months but distraught residents evacuated from nearby towns say they yearn to return as soon as possible. Ash that has reached as far as Argentina continued to spew for a sixth day on Wednesday, disrupting flights to the southern Patagonia region with no sign of let-up. "Everything is so uncertain," said Patricio Ide, 40, who was evacuated from the remote village of Chaiten to Puerto Montt, 125 miles (200 km) away from the volcano.

Crackling with explosions, Chile's Chaiten volcano began spitting lava on Tuesday following its first eruption in thousands of years, and Navy warships were deployed to evacuate nearby residents in the southern region of Patagonia. Chaiten erupted last Friday, sending a towering plume of ash into the sky that has since coated the surrounding area of southern Chile and reached into neighboring Argentina.