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A 5-mile-high column of ash generated a vast, stifling canopy of poisonous gases and smoke as villagers fled. Damage to agricultural crops and livestock could be extensive. "According to our observations, damages to crops, pastures and small effects to the health of people are already evident," the Ecuadorean geophysics institute said. Tungurahua - "Throat of Fire" - was dormant for many years but became active in 1999, losing its ice cap. Before 1999, the 16,479-foot-high mountain was covered with snow and bore a summit glacier that melted away.
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