Chile Volcano Erupts Violently, Forcing Evacuations
The Associated Press
There were no reports of injuries from Saturday's eruption.
A column of gas six miles high and three miles wide rose from Puyehue-Cordon Caulle complex, according to Chile's National Geology and Mining Service.
Chilean authorities evacuated some 3,500 people from 22 settlements near the volcano, which produced an eerie show of lightning dancing through its clouds of ash overnight.
A column of smoke and ashes comes out from the Puyehue volcano, about 620 miles south of Santiago, Chile, on June 4.
Rodrigo Ubilla, Chile's undersecretary of labor, said some people near the volcano had decided not to leave their homes because they didn't want to abandon their animals.
Wind carried ash across the Andes to Argentina, dusting the tourist town of San Carlos de Bariloche, which had to close its airport. Officials there urged people to use cover their mouths and noses against the ash, to stock up on food and water and stay indoors if possible.
The eruption is nearly 620 miles south of Chile's capital, Santiago.
Authorities had put the area on alert Saturday morning after a flurry of earthquakes, and the eruption began in the afternoon. The National Emergency Office said it had recorded an average of 230 tremors an hour.
http://www.npr.org/2011/06/05/136979589/chile-volcano-erupts-violently-forcing-evacuations
June 5, 2011