31 Dec 2018

Families still in evacuation centre on Vanuatu's Ambrym

2:25 pm on 31 December 2018

More than 80 families are still in an evacuation centre on the Vanuatu island of Ambrym, as the island's volcano shows little sign of settling down.

The families were evacuated from the southeastern corner of the island earlier this month, after the eruption belched ash and triggered violent earthquakes.

Peter Korisa, from the Vanuatu Disaster Management Office, said a three-kilometre exclusion zone has been set up around the volcano, and evacuated families are staying in a nearby school.

"There are a lot of earthquakes happening there and they have experienced some cracks on the land and even some buildings collapsed.....so we want to move people of out of this area because they are in the danger zone, he said.".

Mr Korisa said his office has sent food, water and other aid to the island, as the volcano continues to erupt.