Ecuador volcano spews rock

QUITO, Ecuador (Reuters) - Ecuador's Tungurahua volcano spewed molten rock, ash and gases and a local mayor reported 60 people missing, as authorities on Thursday evacuated hundreds of families from the threatened area.

Tungurahua, about 80 miles south of Quito, had earlier shown a sharp increase in activity in July, when hundreds of villagers living near the volcano to flee their homes.

"This is a lot worse than the last time," Mauro Rodriguez, the Civil Defense chief for the Tungurahua province, told Reuters. "We have so far evacuated around 300 families living near the volcano."

Local television stations showed images of molten rock blasting from the crater and massive clouds of ash spewed by the volcano.

Flows of molten rock, ash and gas blocked several near the Tungurahua.

"In recent hours the volcano has quieted down, but a new cycle could start at any moment," Pablo Samaniego, a scientist with the national geophysics institute, told a television station.