Chaitén: Volcano that Doesn’t Sleep

Chaitén volcano: Entering 8th months of activity

Acquired December 5, 2008                                                                   NASA Earth Observatory

Chile’s Chaitén Volcano erupted violently on May 2, 2008, after an estimated 9,000 years of dormancy. The volcano has since spewed ash across Patagonia, ejecting  pumice as far as the nearby gulf, and sending lahars into the town of Chaitén.

The town of Chaitén, located about 10 kilometers from the volcano, is seen covered with volcanic ash in this  satellite image captured by Formosat on December 5, 2008.  West of town, ash forms fan-shaped deposits in what used to be Chaitén’s harbor.  Río Blanco is clogged with ash and appears completely white in the image.

Formosat image © 2008 Dr. Cheng-Chien Liu, National Cheng-Kung University, and Dr. An-Ming Wu, National Space Organization, Taiwan. Caption by Michon Scott.
Instrument: FORMOSAT-2 – RSI
Date Acquired: December 5, 2008