Chile's Calbuco Volcano Erupts For First Time in Over 42 Years; Around 1,500 Evacuated

Carolyn Williams
Published: April 22,2015



 
Chile's Calbuco volcano erupted for the first time in over 42 years on Wednesday, creating a remarkable scene of smoke plumes and ash shooting into the sky.
The nation's National Office of Emergency of the Interior Ministry (ONEMI) issued a red alert for the communities of Puerto Varas and Puerto Montt following the powerful eruption, which came as a surprise to authorities.  
Alejandro Verges, regional emergency director of the Los Lagos region, told the Associated Press the volcano wasn't under special observation and, "For us, it was a surprise."
(MORE: Chile Volcano Eruption Spews Lava Skyward)
Chilean authorities evacuated around 1,500 residents of the nearby communities, Reuters reported.
"The eruption happened about half an hour ago," Puerto Varas resident Derek Way told Reuters. "There are a lot of people out in the streets, many heading to the gas stations to fill up on gas."
 As weather.com meteorologist Chris Dolce points out, you can see the eruption via IR satellite.

Image Credit: Weather Underground

Chile's National Mining and Geology Service enacted its own high alert, the Associated Press said, banning anyone from accessing the area surrounding the volcano. The eruption prompted the Education Ministry to cancel classes for schools in the affected area, and at least three flights to Puerto Montt were canceled.
Rodrigo Penailillo, Interior and Security minister, told the Associated Press, ""This is clearly a much larger eruption than the one we saw with the Villarica some weeks ago, and therefore, we need to take bigger and faster measures."
Calbuco is located in a sparsely populated area of the Los Lagos Region and is considered one of the top three potentially dangerous volcanoes in Chile, the Associated Press said. It last erupted in 1972.
ONEMI also issued a yellow alert for the communities of Villarrica, Pucón and Curarrehue regarding activity at Villarrica volcano, which erupted earlier in March 2015.
This is a breaking story. Please check back with weather.com for more details. 
MORE: Chile's Villarrica Volcano Erupts March 3, 2015