It's been more than 40 years since the Calbuco volcano erupted in southern Chile. But now it's done it twice — generating striking images and concerns over the effects of both the lava and a mammoth cloud of ash.
That column of ejected ash measures nearly 7 miles, says the National Mining and Geology Service, citing a "flyby" that was made early Thursday. In its latest update, the agency says volcanic activity is finally declining — but that a state of emergency remains for a 12-mile area.
Saying 5,000 people have left the area around the volcano, NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro reports, "local officials say people are very very frightened. The immediate concern is the volcano's eruption could trigger snow melts and cause flooding."
Calbuco erupted twice Wednesday, causing a red alert and evacuations around the 6,500-foot volcano. Despite the tower of billowing ash and lava seen in photos yesterday, officials say the volcano expended the most energy overnight, at 3:30 a.m. local time.
We haven't heard of any injuries related to the eruptions — but the huge cloud of ash is already affecting people in surrounding areas, including part of Argentina, according to a map put out by the Chilean geological agency.
Eyder wrote about the unexpected and powerful eruption Wednesday; now we're seeing more images from a second eruption, including a time-lapse video that shows lava and ash towering out of the volcano — and even some lightning bolts, lending an "end of days" feel to the proceedings.
The sudden and powerful volcanic activity seems to have caught Chile's geologists by surprise. But the agency also says the volcano was known to be active roughly every 34 years. Before this week, its last major eruption was in 1961 and the last activity was in 1972.
From the AP:
"For us it was a surprise," said Alejandro Verges, regional emergency director of the Los Lagos region where the eruption took place. He said Calbuco wasn't under any special form of observation.
Calbuco is the second volcano in the region to erupt in two months; the Villarrica volcano emitted a brief but fiery outburst in early March. Chile has around 90 active volcanoes; Calbuco is seen as one of the most potentially dangerous.
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