Volcano

Two weeks or so ago we had a fair-sized earthquake that caused a new vent to open up at our volcano.  Up to this point we've never gotten ash-fall here in the north of our island (Ambrym), but do occasionally get acid rain that has affected mangoes and yams, as well as some other crops.  With the new vent, we experienced a few days of ash-fall that in just a few hours covered up our tanks and plants (see photos).

  

The ash feels like fine sand grit all over your body when you go outside.  Houghton had to sweep our solar panels off a few times a day so our batteries would continue to charge.

 

We have fortunately been saved from ash lately due to a change in the wind, but we have heard that although lava levels at the new vent have quieted a bit, the ash continues to be a problem.  There are observation stations up at the volcano that measure and predict and put our volcano activity up from it's normal Level 1 to a Level 3 of 5 for about 2 weeks.  However, by God's grace, the level just went back down to 2 as of yesterday.  We've decided that if the level raises to 4, we'll pray seriously about relocating, but as of now, things seem to be stable.  However, please pray for continued calming of the volcano and that the ash-fall would subside, as well as that God would protect the crops for all these subsistence farmers of Ambrym.  We get our updates from http://www.geohazards.gov.vu/index.php/hazards-updated-events/volcano-alert-status.  Thanks for your prayers!