"There have been no victims, but all the vegetation has died and we have lost cattle," said Juan Salazar, mayor of Penipe County, which includes two villages where 300 families have been forced to evacuate.

In May, the volcano, located 85 miles south of the capital of Quito, began emitting its loudest and most frequent explosions since it rumbled back to life nearly seven years ago after being inactive for eight decades.

On Friday, the Geophysics Institute reported that the 16,550-foot-high volcano had changed its behavior drastically by expelling at least four lava flows - the first since activity resumed.

Hugo Yepes, director of the institute, said the wind was carrying ash from the explosions up to 75 miles west of the volcano.

On Saturday, the institute said the explosions had lessened in frequency to every half an hour, from every five minutes on Friday.

Banos, a city of 20,000 people at the foot of the volcano, appeared to be out of danger because it is on the eastern side.

A powerful earthquake sent a two-meter (yard) high tsunami crashing into a beach resort on Indonesia's Java island Monday, killing at least five people and damaging hotels and houses. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono confirmed the casualties in a radio broadcast.

People fled to a nearby hill to escape the wave on Pangandaran beach in west Java, a woman identified as Teti told el-Shinta radio station.

"All the houses are destroyed along the beach,'' she said, adding that at least three people were killed.

The tsunami followed a 7.2-magnitude quake that struck deep beneath the Indian Ocean approximately 240 kilometers (150 miles) southwest of Java's western coast at 3:24 p.m. (0824 GMT), causing tall buildings to sway in the capital Jakarta and at least one other city.

Torrential rain hit the area in the wake of the storm, bringing floods and landslides and forcing millions to flee their homes.

Rescue teams are still wading through flooded streets to reach thousands of people stranded by the high water.

More heavy rains have been forecast in the area in the coming days.

Path of destruction

Hardest-hit was the inland province of Hunan, where at least 78 people were killed, the China Daily newspaper reported.

Thousands of homes have been swept away, and large areas of farmland have been destroyed.

In Guangdong province, where an estimated 33 people died, flooding cut the main Beijing-Guangzhou railway line, stranding 5,000 passengers.

In nearby Lechang, waters as deep as 3m (10ft) forced authorities to move 1,600 inmates from the local prison to higher ground.

Mudslides have also been reported in Zhangzhou, Fujian province, killing at least 10 people.

Forecasters are predicting that heavy rain will continue across southern China for several days.

Typhoon Bilis hit Philippines and Taiwan before landing on the Chinese mainland on Friday and being downgraded to a tropical storm.

The storm is the latest severe weather to affect China. At least 349 people died last month after storms and torrential rain battered parts of the country.

Seasonal heavy rains and typhoons causes hundreds of deaths in China each year. But meteorologists have predicted this summer will be particularly bad, with warm Pacific currents causing more typhoons than usual.