| 1 | QUITO, Ecuador - A 2-mile-high (5-kilometer-high) plume of ash shot out of the Cotopaxi volcano near Ecuador's capital Friday in two pre-dawn blasts, coating highways, homes and cars with a fine gray powder. |
| 2 | Government scientists said the 5,987-meter (19,600-foot) snow-capped volcano doesn't seem to be on the verge of a major eruption. |
| 3 | Authorities nevertheless restricted access to the park that surrounds Cotopaxi and suspended ascents of the peak, which is popular with mountaineers. |
| 4 | Patricio Ramon of Ecuador's geophysics institute told Teleamazonas TV that the explosions were small phreatic eruptions, which occur when molten rock, or magma, meets water and produces a violent steam release. |
| 5 | "The situation merits the population staying informed about what's happening with the volcano," said Ramon. |
| 6 | The volcano is 30 miles (50 kilometers) from Quito. |
| 7 | It began showing renewed activity in April. |
| 8 | Its last major eruption was in 1877. |