Puyehue Volcanic Range Continues Ejecting Ash

Puyehue continues to spew ash as volcanic seismicity re-intensifies: Reports

Chilean officials expand the evacuation zone around a volcanic complex as it continues to eject thousands of tons of ash each hour.

The national emergencies office (ONEMI) fears that volcanic ash and pumice could clog up rivers and waterways causing flooding, or trigger lahars, as rain hits the area.

The rain is expected to continue for at least several days.

“The forecast is for more rain on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday,” an ONEMI official told a local news agency.

Frame grab from a video clip taken June 6, 2011. Click HERE for the video link.

War of the Volcanoes: Golf-ball size pumice ejected in the eruption have landed as far away as 25 km from the volcano. Photo credit: Reuters/via BBC. More images …

Click animation link to view the transport of the plume from 1:45 pm local time June 4, 2011, until 10:45 am June 6, 2011.

Buenos Aires, Argentina – Volcanic Ash Advisories

• VA ADVISORY DTG: 20110607/1330Z
• VAAC: BUENOS AIRES VOLCANO: CORDON CAULLE 1507-15
• PSN: S4052 W07220
• AREA: CHILE-C
• SUMMIT ELEV: 1798M
• ADVISORY NR: 2011/014
• INFO SOURCE: GOES 12 – GFS MODEL ERUPTION
• DETAILS: CONTINUOUS EMISSION OBS ASH
• DATE/TIME: 07/1230Z OBS
• ASH CLOUD: SFC/FL180 VA CLD 35 NM WIDE LINE BTN S4052 W06630 – S4127 W07053 – S4200 W06956 – S4318 W06907 – S4432 W06905 FCST ASH CLD +06HR: 071930Z SFC/FL180 S4052 W07220 – S4130 W0550 – S4200 W06140 – S4400 W06130 – S4230 W06640 – S4052 W07220 FCST ASH CLD +12HR: 080130Z SFC/FL180 S4052 W07220 – S4100 W06700 – S4130 W063500 – S4230 W05800 – S4600 W05800 – S4310 W06454 – S4133 W06930 – S4052 W07220 FCST ASH CLD +18HR: 080730Z SFC/FL180 S4052 W07220 – S4000 W06700 – S4000 W06300 – S4300 W05400 – S4500 W05800 – S4200 W06400 – S4052 W07 220
• REMARKS: VA PLUME IS VISIBLE IN MULTISPECTRAL SATELLITE IMAGERY AREA OF REMANENT VA ASH FROM PREVIOUS EMISION BTN FL160/230 AT S2555 W05636 – S2715 W05545 – S3028 W05628 – S3442 W05423 – S3750 W05000 – S3450 W05555 – S3021 W05746 – S2623 W05744 – S2555 W05636 MOV ESE 50K T NEXT ADVISORY: WILL BE ISSUED BY 20110607/1930Z

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Chile’s Puyehue volcano explodes

Puyehue-Cordon-Caulle erupted ejecting a 10-km high plume of ash into the air

“The Cordon Caulle has entered an eruptive process, with an explosion resulting in a 10-kilometer-high gas column,” state emergency office ONEMI reported.

The authorities were forced to evacuate at least 3,500 people from areas near the volcano.

A large cloud of ash was reported over the Patagonian ski resort town of Bariloche in the neighboring Argentina, about 160 km east of the volcano,   forcing the local airport to close.

“We’re trying to stop car traffic and ask that people stay at home and close their doors and windows to prevent the volcanic ash from coming in. The city’s airport was also closed,” an eyewitness told the local TV station.

“Ash was dumped like a snowstorm… The city is covered in grey ash.”

“Eyewitness Juli Kessler told the BBC she saw ‘big black clouds hanging over the Andes’ and ash dust lying on the road.”

Map of Chile’s volcanoes with the approximate  location of Puyehue-Cordon-Caulle volcano marked by FIRE-EARTH.

The governor of Chile’s Los Rios region was reported as saying that fire was seen in the volcano’s crater as a large plume of smoke billowed out.

“You can see the fire (in the volcano) and a plume of smoke, and there’s a strong smell of sulfur,” he told reporters.

The volcano is located about 840 km (522 miles) south of Santiago, the national capital. Its  last major eruption occurred in 1960, after a magnitude 9.5 earthquake struck Chile about 260km directly north of the volcano.

Chile is home to about 2,000 volcanoes (world’s 2nd largest volcanic chain after Indonesia), of which 500 of are classified as active, with about 55 of them having erupted historically. Llaima and Chaiten, two other Chilean volcanoes, have erupted in the past few years.

Puyehue-Cordón Caulle

Location: Central Chile
Last Known Eruption: 1990
Summit Elevation: 2,236m 7,336 feet
Latitude: 40.590°S
Longitude: 72.117°W
Source: GVP

The Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcanic complex (PCCVC) is a large NW-SE-trending late-Pleistocene to Holocene basaltic-to-rhyolitic transverse volcanic chain SE of Lago Ranco. The 1799-m-high Pleistocene Cordillera Nevada caldera lies at the NW end, separated from Puyehue stratovolcano at the SE end by the Cordón Caulle fissure complex. The Pleistocene Mencheca volcano with Holocene flank cones lies NE of Puyehue. The basaltic-to-rhyolitic Puyehue volcano is the most geochemically diverse of the PCCVC. The flat-topped, 2236-m-high Puyehue volcano was constructed above a 5-km-wide caldera and is capped by a 2.4-km-wide summit caldera of Holocene age. Lava flows and domes of mostly rhyolitic composition are found on the eastern flank of Puyehue. Historical eruptions originally attributed to Puyehue, including major eruptions in 1921-22 and 1960, are now known to be from the Cordón Caulle rift zone. The Cordón Caulle geothermal area, occupying a 6 x 13 km wide volcano-tectonic depression, is the largest active geothermal area of the southern Andes volcanic zone. Photo by Klaus Dorsch, 2001 (University of Munich); caption: GVP

Inches of volcanic ash 100 miles away

Argentine resort city of San Carlos de Bariloche, about 160 km (100 miles) east of Chile’s Puyehue, seen covered by volcanic ash from the June 4 eruption. Photo Credit: Reuters/Trilce Reyes. Image may be subject to copyright. More images…

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