A giant plume of volcanic ash billowing from Mount Yasur volcano on Tanna Island in Vanuatu on May 26, 2010. Photo: Ulla LOHMANN / AFP
Disaster authorities in Vanuatu are closely monitoring unprecedented simultaneous increases in activity at three of the country's volcanoes.
The Vanuatu Geohazards Department has put out level 2 alerts for both the northern and southern volcanoes of Ambrym and Tanna with local communities and tourists banned from visiting the rim of these craters.
There is a lesser level 1 alert for a volcano on Ambae island.
Geohazard officer Eslien Garaebiti says increased activity at all volcanoes has never been seen before and says the department is particularly worried about the Tanna and Ambrym craters.
"They are under major level of unrest so they are the ones that are catching our attention at the moment for any increase of activity we would respond or in backing up our monitoring system for those volcanoes."
Vanuatu's volcanoes are among the most accessible in the world and are a major attraction for the tourist industry.