Erupting Chilean volcano could spew ash for months

AP on Yahoo ^ | 5/7/08 | Antonio de la Jara

[NormsRevenge]

PUERTO MONTT, Chile (Reuters) - Experts believe Chile's Chaiten volcano could continue belching out vast clouds of ash for months but distraught people evacuated from nearby towns say they yearn to return as soon as possible.

Ash that has reached as far as Argentina continued to spew for a sixth day on Wednesday, disrupting flights to the southern Patagonia region with no sign of let-up.

"Everything is so uncertain," said Patricio Ide, 40, who was evacuated from the remote village of Chaiten to Puerto Montt, 125 miles away from the volcano.

"This could last a month, three months, maybe we can never return. We are so worried," the mechanic said through tears. A coating of ash over 6 inches thick has built up in places and has contaminated ground water supplies.

Chaiten village can only be reached by boat or by air and the navy took people out aboard warships.

The surprise eruption of the long dormant 3,280-foot (1,000-meter) Chaiten volcano has forced the evacuation within a 30 mile radius of the volcano, including more than 4,500 residents of Chaiten six miles from it.

After a surge in activity on Tuesday, when the volcano spat hot rocks and lava and the column of ash surged, officials said its two craters had fused, helping ease pressure.

But the eruption continued and experts said it would be weeks and possibly even months before residents who had to leave their belongings, pets and lives behind could return.

EVACUEES YEARN TO RETURN

Evacuee Maria Angelica Hermosilla said she would go back the first chance she got. "There is nothing like Chaiten," the 42-year-old said. "Everyone knows each other, we are like a big family, there is no violence, no muggings."

The village is nestled by a fjord some 760 miles south of the Chilean capital Santiago and is a magnet for adventure tourism, fishing and trekking.

Sparsely populated Patagonia is the southernmost swathe of Latin America that cuts across Chile and Argentina and is home to towering snow-capped peaks, some of them volcanoes, glaciers and fjords.

National Emergency Office official Rodrigo Rojas said winds were pushing the vast ash cloud into Argentina, but that it was no longer soaring miles into the air as it did when the eruption started on Friday.

"The reason the height of the eruptive column (of ash) is lower is due to the fact its two craters have fused into one, and that has produced a bigger area for the column to escape from," Rojas said. But he said there had been no lessening of the volcanic activity.

President Michelle Bachelet said it was the first time that Chile has had to evacuate entire towns. The last residents of Futaleufu further east were also being evacuated on Wednesday.

Luis Lara, a government geologist, said he did not expect a catastrophic collapse of the volcano, and said any eventual lava flow would not reach the town. But a cloud of dense, very hot material could coat the surrounding area.

"The activity could continue for quite some time," he said. "It could be weeks, months. It could even be years, but not with the same characteristics -- with ups and downs."

Neighboring Argentina canceled flights to Patagonia because of the ash cloud and closed some schools.

Chile has the world's second most active string of volcanoes behind Indonesia. It is home to 2,000 volcanoes, 500 of which experts say are potentially active. Around 60 have erupted over the past 450 years.

[Desron13]

Al Gore wants to sell the volcano some carbon credits. ;-)

[Calvin Locke]

Chaiten is ~43ºS latitude, Tambora "was" at ~8ºS, Krakatoa ~17ºS, fwiw.

A better effects comparison would be Mount St. Helens @ ~46ºN

[RightWhale]

Krakatoa is near the equator.

[poobear]

“The effects should be restricted to the southern hemisphere.”

Which they will use as an excuse for the huge build up of the ice cap they have been silent about.

You couldn't write a better fictional script.

[urabus]

Latitude is not so important as the volume and altitude of volcanic emissions. Time will tell with this one.

http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/climate_effects.html

[piytar]

Tambura also happened during the Dalton Minimum - a dip in solar and sunspot activity just like what we are seeing now. (I had earlier said that dip happened in the 1600s, but have since checked my facts. It was 1816.)

Looks like history repeating itself...

[Dog Gone]

Dang, Chile stole the Texas flag!

[ohioman]

The Year Without a Summer was from the effects of Tambora in 1815. At a VEI 7, Tambora was the largest eruption in recorded history. Here, the caldera collapsed as over 3,000 feet of mountain top was obliterated in the explosion. At a little less than a mile deep, it's still the deepest volcanic crater in the world.

Also, those folks who say that large volcanic eruptions only effect the hemisphere they erupt in are wrong. Katmai (Novarupta eruption in Alaska early 20th Century) was very far North and it cooled the Planet, but not to as great a degree as more equatorial Pinatubo. Scientists have also found traces of large Volcanic Eruptions in Chile in Ice Cores from Greenland, such as Hyaputina which erupted in 1600.

I doubt the Chilean officials quoted in this article are geologists or vulcanologists - especially from the following quote:
“Experts believe Chile's Chaiten volcano could continue belching out vast clouds of ash for months”

If this thing kept spewing 20 mile high columns of ash for months that would very rare and catastrophic. Of course, the truth is that no one knows. I hope a U.S. team of Geologists gets there soon so that they can get a good gas measurement of this thing. If the SO2 level is high, look out!

[wildbill]

Be prepared for:

Beautiful sunsets as the ash particles in the atmosphere ring the planet and cause refections.

global cooling as the ash particles reflect some heat back off the atmosphere.

[Mike Darancette]

If this thing kept spewing 20 mile high columns of ash for months that would very rare and catastrophic.

I wouldn't want to be around when that column collapses.

[ohioman]

You got that right. When the column does collapse, the town of Chaiten could turn into Pompeii. The good thing is that everyone has evacuated.

[RightWhale]

http://www.terradaily.com/2007/080508141725.48jsvmsw.html

Stragglers evacuate as Chile volcano erupts again

Chile’s Chaiten volcano burst into a phase of higher activity early Thursday spewing out clouds of ash, forcing the last stragglers who had refused to evacuate from its base to leave.

A huge explosion around midnight alarmed around 30 remaining residents of the town of Chaiten, about 10 kilometers (six miles) from the volcano of the same name.

Authorities stepped in to force the stragglers, who thought the volcanic activity might wane, to leave, warning they would be arrested if they did not move to safer ground.

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not worth a fresh thread

[ohioman]

Thanks for the update.

Each day the reports seem to state that the volcano has gone into a higher stage of activity. I wish to hell we had a team there to give us details of the gas readings. This thing could evolve into a rather strong caldera collapse, like it did the only other time we know of it erupting over 9,000 years ago.

[RightWhale]

There is an unlimited amount of material. It could go forever.

[American Quilter]

Volcanic eruptions cause global cooling. When Krakatoa blew, the result was “The Year Without a Summer”.

Our planet is regulating its temperature and climate. No human intervention needed (or possible).

[PapaBear3625]

Be prepared for: Beautiful sunsets as the ash particles in the atmosphere ring the planet and cause refections. global cooling as the ash particles reflect some heat back off the atmosphere.

Hopefully it will mean that my A/C bills won't be so high this summer