A Volcano Just Erupted in Chile, Spewing Ash For Miles

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VIDEO/PHOTOS: A Volcano Just Erupted in Chile, Spewing Ash For Miles
19 hours ago

A few hours ago Volcano Calbuco in southern Chile erupted for the first time in nearly 40 years.

According to CNN Chile, a Red Alert was issued for the surrounding area. An estimated 1500 people are being asked to evacuate within a six mile radius.

“The eruption happened about half an hour ago, Derek Way, a nearby resident told Reuters earlier in the day. “There are a lot of people out in the streets, many heading to the gas stations to fill up on gas.”

Mayor Gervoy Paredes told the BBC that residents were “very, very frightened.”

Neighboring Argentina also put its citizens on alert, specifically in the city of Bariloche that sits about 100km from Calbuco. Ash clouds are expected to hit the city tonight.

Authorities also noted to the BBC that “no hot rocks or lava had been seen so far, only ash. However, experts warned that local rivers could be flooded by melting snow and ice.”


A Volcano Just Erupted in Chile, Spewing Ash For Miles

 

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Thousands evacuated as Chile volcano erupts
State of emergency declared in southern region after Calbuco volcano, dormant for decades, spews ash and smoke.
23 Apr 2015 17:00 GMT


Southern Chile's Calbuco volcano has erupted for the second time in a day, after being dormant for about half a century.

The first eruption on Wednesday sent a thick plume of ash and smoke several kilometres into the sky, local television images showed.

More than 5,000 people were evacuated from the sparsely populated area about 1,000km south of the capital Santiago and near the tourist town of Puerto Varas.

A state of emergency was declared after the first eruption and a curfew was enforced overnight.

Video footage of the first eruption, which occurred at around 6pm local time (21:00 GMT), showed a spectacular mushroom-shaped cloud of ash and smoke, that turned red as the sun went down.

Chile's Interior Minister Rodrigo Penailillo gave a televised address, calling for calm. Penailillo said the military was being sent into Llanquihue province to help evacuate people and keep order.

He added that water was being sent to the area, as it was unclear how much ash may have fallen and contaminated water supplies.

Later, Penailillo said there had been no reports of deaths, missing persons or injuries. He urged residents to evacuate and warned of possible lahars, a mix of water and rock fragments that flow down a volcano's slopes and river valleys.

Wednesday's eruptions also triggered flight cancellations in Chile and Argentina.

Al Jazeera's Lucia Newman, reporting the Chilean capital Santiago said on Thursday that thousands of people across the country and in neighbouring Argentina were still stuck at airports.

"In Chile flights are not taking off to as far north as Concepcion, 630km from the volcano, as northeasterly winds blow ash in the direction of the capital."

Juan Martinez, a Chilean who was trying to return to his home in Puerto Montt, near the erupting volcano told Al Jazeera that the country was going "from one disaster to another."

Chile's Villarics volcano erupted last month, followed by an unprecedented drought, devastating forest fires and freakish floods in country's north, which home to the famed Atacama desert.


At least 5,000 people had evacuated from the area and an evacuation radius of 20km has been established [EPA]

Trevor Moffat, who lives in Ensenada, about 10km from the volcano, said he and his family fled when it erupted.

"It sounded like a big tractor trailer passing by the road, rattling and shaking, guttural rumbling. ... We left everything there, grabbed my kid, my dog, got in the car with my wife," Moffat told the Reuters news agency.

Calbuco last erupted in 1972 and is considered one of the top three most potentially dangerous among Chile's 90 active volcanoes, according to the AP news agency.

Chile, on the Pacific "Rim of Fire", has the second largest chain of volcanoes in the world after Indonesia, including around 500 that are potentially active.

In March, volcano Villarrica, also in southern Chile, erupted in spectacular fashion, sending a plume of ash and lava high into the sky, but quickly subsided.


Calbuco last erupted in 1972 and is considered one of the top three most potentially dangerous among Chile's 90 active volcanos [EPA]


Thousands evacuated as Chile volcano erupts - Al Jazeera English

 

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Evacuation as Calbuco volcano erupts in Chile

• 5 hours ago

The Calbuco volcano in southern Chile has erupted twice in the space of a few hours - having lain dormant for decades.

Footage from the area shows a huge column of lava and ash being sent several kilometres into the air.

The authorities have declared a red alert and evacuated more than 4,000 people within a 20km (12 mile) radius.

The Calbuco volcano is one of the most active in Chile, but its eruption took officials in the area by surprise.

Alejandro Verges, an emergency director for the region, said Calbuco had not been under any special form of observation.

Calbuco is one of the most active volcanoes in Chile

Officials have evacuated residents within a 20km radius of the volcano

Calbuco had lain dormant for decades
Calbuco eruption: your pictures

'Very frightened'
The inhabitants of the nearby town of Ensenada - along with residents from two other smaller communities - have been ordered to evacuate their homes.

Schools in the area have been shut and some flights cancelled.

The nearby city of Puerto Montt - a gateway to the popular Patagonia region - has already been blanketed in a cloud of ash.

TV footage showed traffic jams in the city and long queues at petrol stations. The nearby town of Puerto Varas was also under a state of alert.

The ash can be seen several miles from the volcano

Nearby residents are said to be "very, very frightened"
Mayor Gervoy Paredes said residents were "very, very frightened".

"I had never seen this before. It scares you in the beginning. You start to wonder what is going to happen to you," said one unnamed woman.

"Everyone starts to think about gathering water and I don't know what. We got together with the neighbours to see what we would do and wait for news over the radio because we knew that they were evacuating Ensenada and other places near the volcano."

Chile has more than 500 potentially active volcanoes

"I had never seen this before," said one woman

Interior Minister Rodrigo Penailillo called on people affected to "remain calm and stay informed".

Neighbouring Argentina has also put emergency measures in place for the city of Bariloche - about 100km from Calbuco - where ash clouds are expected.

Residents there have been warned to stay indoors.

Chile has the second largest chain of volcanoes in the world after Indonesia, with about 500 that are potentially active.

It is southern Chile's second volcanic eruption in as many months.

In March, the Villarrica volcano erupted in the early hours of the morning, spewing ash and lava. The authorities say this latest eruption is more serious.

Evacuation as Calbuco volcano erupts in Chile - BBC News

 

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(CNN)Chile's Calbuco volcano erupted twice in 24 hours, the country's National Geology and Mining Service said early Thursday.

The agency said it was evaluating the spectacular nighttime eruption, but indicated it was "stronger than the first one."

About 23½ inches (60 centimeters) of ash fell in some places, according to the Ministry of Interior and Public Safety.

Authorities issued a red alert for the towns of Puerto Montt and Puerto Varas in southern Chile. Both are popular tourist destinations.

A 12-mile (20 kilometer) exclusion zone was established around the crater. Military and police forces were assisting with the evacuations of more than 4,400 residents, the Interior Ministry said.

American Helen Rodgers witnessed the volcano erupt from the Hotel Patagonico in Puerto Varas, a popular tourist destination.
The first eruption on Wednesday set off a bit of a panic in the region.

"At the beginning, it was small, and later, the cloud grew and later there was a huge cloud over you and true terror starts," said one Puerto Montt resident.

Another person said: "It was impressive to see an enormous mushroom cloud, with the immense force of the volcano, and to see the ashes. At that point, there was a lot of panic, lots of chaos, traffic jams, people going to supermarkets, everyone looking for water, trying to take out money from the ATMs."

The eruption is a first for many in the region.The last major eruption was 1962. There was a minor eruption in 1972.

Calbuco also belched out a bit of gas and smoke in 1996.

Alejandro Verges, regional director at the Ministry of Interior and Public Safety, said Thursday afternoon that officials are concerned there might be a third eruption.

"The situation is relatively calm right now, although people are understandably anxious about what could happen tonight," he said.


Chile's Calbuco volcano erupts - CNN.com

 

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