Chile’s Calbuco volcano erupted again on Thursday, sending dark bursts of ash and hot rock billowing 2.5 miles (4km) into the air and prompting officials to order a new evacuation of nearby residents.
Thick clouds boiled out of 6,500-foot (2,000-meter) cone, bringing the threat of new, heavy ash fall over villagers struggling to clean up from two huge blasts last week.
The area was evacuated after the volcano first erupted last Wednesday afternoon, but many people had begun to return to their ash-drowned homes.
The eruptions at Calbuco are the first in more than four decades. About 4,500 people have been evacuated since the volcano roared back to life on 22 April, sending ash about 11 miles (18km) into the sky.
The ash spread across the southern part of the continent, disrupting flights in Argentina’s capital, Buenos Aires.
“This latest eruption is much smaller than the other two,” deputy interior minister Mahmud Aleuy said in a press conference, adding that while the situation is not dangerous so far, some 2,500 people will be evacuated.
“We’re talking about a plume that is about 4km and that is directed toward the southern part of the volcano, so we shouldn’t have major problems except for those who live in the south of the volcano and who will be hit by ash.”
Source:
http://www.theguardian.com/