File:Ash plume from Aoba Volcano, Vanuatu (morning overpass) (MODIS 2017-11-12).jpg

English: A heavy plume of ash and gas poured from Vanuatu’s Aoba volcano on November 6, 2017 as NASA’s Terra satellite passed overhead. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard that volcano acquired a true-color image of the event. The broad plume, captured by the wind and blowing to the southwest, appears very distinctly gray and nothing like the banks of bright white cloud nearby.

Aoba volcano, also known as Ambae, is a very large active volcano with a history of eruptions occurring every 10 – 50 years. All the eruptions have been from the summit craters, except a rare event in the 1670s when a lava flow occurred lower on the volcano. The current eruption, as typical for Aoba, is focused on the summit crater.

According to ReliefWeb, a reminder has been posted to all tourism agencies, local authorities, people of Ambae and the general public to not to access the area designated as the Danger Zone which is about 3 km radius from the eruptive vent. In this area flying rocks are expected, volcanic ashes and gases may be more abundant. Villages from Ambae and neighboring islands may experience volcanic hazards from gas and ash plumes, especially those exposed to prevailing trade winds direction.