PERU – Two volcanoes in close proximity have erupted into life in the Andes, and recent explosive activity at the Sabancaya Volcano has prompted evacuations; the South American country has declared state of emergency.

“All this activity is part of an expected process” said Peruvian Geophysical Institute (IGP) Investigator Orlando Macedo, according to a report by news source Express. “Before the eruption, tremors were occurring closer and closer to the volcano and the crater. However, the process is taking longer than that which we saw at the Ubinas Volcano, when everything happened in a matter of days. In the case of Sabancaya, this could go on for several months.”

Peru's Sabancaya volcano has had a series of explosions in last few days, spewing ash and smoke some 11,500 feet into the sky. pic.twitter.com/n6wPLkc0cg

— AJ+ (@ajplus) December 27, 2016

The Sabancaya volcano, known by locals as “tongue of fire” and situated just 40 miles outside Peru’s second most populous city, Arequipa, began activity on November 6 of this year. The Sabancaya had been dormant for almost 200 years until it began erupting in the 1980s. The recent volcanic activity is the first in some 18 years, though the area has been seismically active since 2013.

By Monday of this week, the volcano had begun to spew ash and smoke roughly 11,500 feet into the air.

Local authorities issued a warning and implemented emergency measures to relocate local inhabitants adversely affected by the ash from the 20,000-foot Andean volcano’s eruption.

In response to the volcanic activity, officials plan to evacuate around 4,000 area residents and their livestock—nearly 30,000 animals including llamas and alpacas—to safer ground 12 miles away.

The Ubinas, volcano located within 60 miles of Sabancaya, is currently active as well, spewing ash two miles high into the atmosphere.

Will the ash and seismic activity affect the country’s important growing regions as key categories like mangos transition to Peru for their growing season? For updates as they develop, stay tuned to AndNowUKnow.