Chile volcano blasts ash 20 miles high, forcing evacuations

AP ^ | MNay 6, 2008 – 1 hour ago | EDUARDO GALLARDO

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — The long-dormant Chaiten volcano blasted ash some 20 miles (30 kilometers) into the Andean sky on Tuesday, forcing the last of thousands to evacuate and fouling a huge stretch of the South American continent.

A thick column of ash climbed into the stratosphere and blew eastward for hundreds of miles (kilometers) over Patagonia to the Atlantic Ocean, closing schools and a regional airport. Chilean and Argentine citizens were advised to wear masks to avoid breathing the dangerous fallout.

Chilean officials ordered the total evacuation of Chaiten, a small provincial capital in an area of lakes and glacier-carved fjords just six miles (10 kilometers) from the roiling cloud.

Interior Minister Edmundo Perez said anyone still in the area should "urgently head to ships in the bay to be evacuated."

More than 4,000 people were evacuated over the weekend and 350 more headed out Tuesday.

Also emptied was the soot-coated border town of Futaleufu, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) from the volcano.

The five-day-old eruption is the first in 9,370 years, said Charles Stern, a volcanologist at the University of Colorado-Boulder who has studied Chaiten.

He said the nearby town could end up buried, much like the Roman city of Pompeii following Mount Vesuvius' eruption in 79 A.D. Volcanic material from Chaiten's last eruption measured up to 5 feet in places.

"What happens after today is anybody's guess," Stern said.

The gritty, gray-white blizzard of ash covered houses and roads. Some people chose to remain in Futaleufu, donning masks when they dared to leave their homes.

About a 1/2 inch (1 centimeter) of ash coated the Argentine tourist town of Esquel, a Patagonian resort favored by backpackers and skiers at the foot of the Andes, where the airport and schools have been closed since Saturday.

The fallout covered a third of Argentina's Minnesota-sized province of Chubut, provincial Gov. Mario Das Neves said.

While volcanologists around the world eagerly awaited data on the scope of the eruption, one local expert got an up-close look when he accompanied police and air force teams over the 3,950-foot (1,200 meter) peak.

Volcanologist Juan Cayupi told The Associated Press by telephone that Chaiten's two small craters have morphed into a large, single crater.

Lava was rising within the crater but has not yet spilled over, said Luis Lara, another volcanologist with the government's Geology and Mining Service.

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, who visited the area Monday, has pledged financial help for people who lose homes or livestock. Farmers left behind about 40,000 head of livestock, and officials expressed fear that many of them could die.

But the possibility of the Chaiten volcano affecting Earth's climate is probably fairly low, experts said.

So far, Chaiten has emitted only a few thousand tons of sulfur dioxide, "which is very small," said Simon Carn, a University of Maryland-Baltimore volcanologist who uses satellites to measure volcanic gases.

In general, a volcano must spew at least 1 million tons of sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere to have a global effect on climate, said Alan Robock, a Rutgers University professor who co-authored a book on the subject.

After eruptions of unusual size, sulfur dioxide, converted into sulfuric acid, can form a thin white cloud in the atmosphere that reflects sunlight away from Earth.

The Philippines' Mount Pinatubo produced a brief cooling of the climate after spewing 20 million tons of sulfur dioxide in 1991.

But Robock said this volcano is so close to the South Pole that any cooling would likely be limited to the Southern Hemisphere.

Associated Press Science Writer Seth Borenstein in Washington, D.C., contributed to this

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Great Map...thanks.,..

[NormsRevenge]

There’s a pile of volcanos in Chile..

http://www.volcanolive.com/chile.html

Chile contains a large number of volcanoes but they are not as active as the volcanoes in the western Pacific. This is due to the shallow subduction of the tectonic plates which cuts off magma supply to the surface.

Chile contains the world’s highest active volcanoes.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

ping!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

New Mexico is a fascinating place and has many Volcanos....:

Why New Mexico Is the "Volcano State"

[NormsRevenge]

Lots of ‘em, wow.

[bd476]

Thousands evacuate after Chile volcano Chaiten erupts


A huge cloud of ash spewed from the Chaiten volcano, Chile, May 6, 2008. An evacuation of Chaiten Town and regions around had been underway since the volcano's first eruption on last Friday. (Xinhua Photo)


Residents of Chaiten, a town close to the erupting volcano in Chile, arrive at a port to evacuate from following eruption of the Chaiten volcano, May 6, 2008. An evacuation of Chaiten Town and regions around had been underway since the volcano's first eruption on last Friday. (Xinhua Photo)




Residents of Futaleufu, a town near the erupting volcano in Chile, wait on a bus to evacuate to Argentina's Esquel City, May 6, 2008. (Xinhua Photo)

BEIJING, May 7 (Xinhuanet) -- Chile's long-dormant Chaiten volcano spewed clouds of gray smoke, hot rocks and toxic gas on Tuesday, forcing authorities to order the complete evacuation of two nearby towns, media reports said.

More than 4,000 people left the town of Chaiten, 10 kilometers (six miles) from the volcano, after the initial eruption. Several hundred are still waiting to leave. Futaleufu, 70 kilometers (44 miles) to the east, is also being evacuated.

The volcano's column of smoke and ash stretched more than 19 kilometers (12 miles) into the sky on Monday, Chile's National Geology and Mineral Service reported, and it extended well into neighboring Argentina and to the Atlantic Ocean.

Chilean officials said molten rock was being thrown from the volcano but that no lava flows had been detected.

The five-day-old eruption is the first in at least 9,000 years for the volcano in southern Chile, according to volcanologists at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.

A government vulcanologist warned there could be a big eruption at any time.

"There could be a major explosion that could collapse the volcano's cone," said Luis Lara of the National Geologic and Mining Service.

Thousands evacuate after Chile volcano Chaiten erupts

[dr_lew]

That photo is from May 3rd

Today's image doesn't show a long trail, but a lazy fat curlicue, presumably because the winds have changed. This makes me wonder if the ash plume is really getting into the stratosphere.

But then, look at the shadow of the top of the plume. Based on Starry Night software, the sun was at 32 degrees altitude, and using Google Earth and comparing the shadow size to the coastal features, it looks to be about 25 miles in extension, making it about 12 miles high ... rough estimate.

[gogov]

Volcana causes global warming

[Wil H]

Chileans have been asked not to drive their SUV’s for the next 10,000 years - this should offset the effects of the volcano.

[dr_lew]

The volcano is covered with snow, but does not contain a glacier.

This is incorrect. It confuses Chaiten with nearby Michinmahuida, which is a snow covered volcanic peak. Chaiten is a lower caldera to the west of Michinmahuida, as seen in this Google Maps view.

[NormsRevenge]

Thanks, it wasn’t even listed on a couple sites I checked for more info..

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

BBC Video:

Chile volcano

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks.,

[happinesswithoutpeace]

BKMARK. great stuff.

[Strategerist]

There’s probably more carbon dioxide spewed out there in 5 minutes than all of us combined will emit in our entire lives.

Actually, no. Wordwide, vehicles and industry put out 100 times more CO2 per year than every volcano on earth combined.

[M. Espinola]

Thanks for posting the video. It’s one disaster after the other. What’s next, as hurricane season creeps upon the east coast in a few months.

[M. Espinola]

Thanks for posting the video. It’s one disaster after the other. What’s next, as hurricane season creeps upon the east coast in a few months.

[Alia]

I feel badly for those having to leave their homes and businesses behind.

My call: With this volcano blowing off heat, I wouldn't be surprised to see more land movement (e.g., tremors, quakes) around the world, as the plates do their adjusting.

[uglybiker]

It’s one disaster after the other. What’s next, as hurricane season creeps upon the east coast in a few months.

The worst part is after each one, you can't turn on the @#$%#$@&! TV without seeing Algore blaming it on you-know-what.

[SunkenCiv]

Belated thanks Ernest.

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