Costa Rica's Turrialba volcano released a column of gas and ash into the sky on Tuesday (26 October) in the latest of a series of eruptions at the majestic volcano. According to officials, the eruption occurred at 8.37am local time (2.37pm GMT) and was a little bigger than recent activity at the site. Geologist Floribet Vega said that dozens of eruptions have been registered at Turrialba in recent days.

"What happened this morning on October 27 at 8.37am was the continuation of a series of eruptions which have been generated since the end of the week at Turrialba volcano. Today's [eruption] at 8.37am was a little bit stronger, not extremely bigger that it sent ash to the central valley, but it's a little bigger than what we have seen. We're observing 30 small eruptions in one day, which deposit ash in the main crater," she said.

Significant emissions have been reported at the volcano in recent years, but magma has rarely been observed at Turrialba's crater.

"When there is a magmatic eruption, we're not going to find that a high proportion of material has been moved around. We're going to find a majority of material which is fresh and young and very little material which has been moving around. So the proportion is going to be the opposite of what we have today," said volcanologist Geoffroy Avard.

The Turrialba Volcano National Park has been shut since 2009 due to the increased activity at the site.

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