QUITO, Ecuador -- Ecuador's El Reventador Volcano, which erupted over the weekend, calmed down on Tuesday and people returned to work as rains helped wash away tons of ash dumped on the capital Quito.

El Reventador awoke from 26 years of slumber on Sunday, spewing a mushroom cloud nearly 10 miles (16 km) into the sky.

More than a million tons of ash fell like beige snow over Quito as winds carried the volcanic cloud west across the Andean highlands and toward the Pacific Ocean.

Scientists said the rumbling, 11,683-foot (3,562 meter) volcano had grown quieter on Tuesday but that it was too soon to say the worst was over, as the Amazon giant continued to emit ash and gases.

"There's much less activity but we can't say it's reached normal levels yet. It's still very soon, just two days after the eruption," said Alexandra Alvarado, an expert at Ecuador's Geophysical Institute.

The eruption 60 miles (95 km) east of Quito shut the city's airport and kept schools closed. Authorities declared a state of emergency and asked the capital's 1.4 million residents to stay inside on Monday to avoid inhaling volcanic dust.

Rains on Tuesday helped wash away a layer of ash covering Quito's palm tree-lined avenues and clear the air as people began to sweep up and headed back to work.

Buses returned to streets, carrying residents -- some still wearing surgical masks to filter out dust -- to their jobs for a shortened work day. People were urged to head home early to help clean up the mess.

Some neighborhoods reported blackouts and complained that tap water was murky but the city's Mayor, Paco Moncayo, said power was being restored and drinking water was safe. Workers hustled to clear the air strip, though airport chief Jose Luis Andrade said it could take through the weekend.

Hundreds of poor farmers who live near the foot of El Reventador fled on Sunday as the volcano rumbled, leaving their homes and livestock behind.

A group of five foreigners and seven Ecuadoreans had been hiking through the jungle near El Reventador during the eruption but were found unharmed, the Red Cross said.

Ecuador's Galapagos islands were said to be safe from the ash. The Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology said the volcanic cloud was drifting across the Pacific Ocean but posed no threat to the archipelago and its exotic wildlife.