Llaima Again Erupts

The NY Times reports:

Chile's Llaima volcano, one of the most active in South America, spewed out a river of lava more than 1,100 yards long on Saturday in a fresh eruption, prompting officials to order dozens of people to evacuate.

Llaima, which lies in Chile's picturesque lake region about 435 miles south of the capital Santiago, erupted on January 1, 2008, and has belched rock and ash sporadically since then.

The lava and hot gases from the latest eruption are melting snow on the sides of the volcano, and authorities say some towns are in danger of being hit by mudslides.

"We are going to start the evacuation of some people who live in sectors that are particularly vulnerable to the risk of ... avalanches of mud due to melting snow," Johaziel Jamett, head of the early warning center at the National Emergency Office, told Reuters.

El Nevado del Huila Erupts

La erupción registrada la noche del jueves por el volcán Nevado del Huila, en el suroeste de Colombia, causó avalanchas del río Paez y otros afluentes que destruyeron varios puentes en las carreteras del departamento del Huila, pero no se han reportado víctimas, informaron hoy las autoridades.

El Instituto Colombiano de Geología y Minería (Ingeominas, estatal) indicó en su último comunicado que "se "confirmó la generación de un flujo de lodo que se encauzó por el río Paez, afectando la infraestructura vial de la región, de acuerdo con reportes recibidos de los pobladores de la zona de influencia".

Las avalanchas se registraron en los departamentos del Huila y Cauca, zonas situadas a unos 500 kilómetros al suroeste de Bogotá, donde una erupción similar causó una tragedia en 1994 en la que murieron más de 1.000 personas y hubo graves destrozos y pérdidas económicas. source

Columbia Reports:

Thousands of people were evacuated Thursday after the Nevado del Huila volcano erupted. Authorities declared a state of red alert and order everyone within the surroundings to immediately leave their homes.

Authorities called for the immediate evacuation of La Plata, Paicol, Nátaga and Tesalia, but it's uncertain if the population of the surrounding towns and villages cooperate with authorities. In April this year many people refused to respond to an evacuation call.

The eruption took place at 21:45 and immediately made the Colombian seismologist institute to raise the state of alert to its highest level. the eruption caused a mudslide that passed an indigenous settlement alongside the Paez river, but no wounded were reported.

Seismic activity seemed to go down again after the initial eruption, Ingeominas said, but authorities stay cautious.

Chaiten Erupts

This from Reuters:

Covered in thick ash, the Patagonian community of Chaiten was a ghost town on Saturday as a volcano spewed ash a day after its first eruption in thousands of years forced nearly 4,500 people to flee.

Authorities have evacuated most of the southern Chilean town's residents since Friday, sending many by boat to Chiloe Island farther north and to Puerto Montt on the mainland.

Some are staying in guesthouses, while schools have been turned into makeshift shelters packed with stores of bottled water after a blanket of volcanic ash contaminated ground water.

Only a few dozen people remained in Chaiten, whose snow-capped volcano of the same name erupted on Friday, triggering earth tremors and spewing a cloud of ash two miles into the air. There is no record of the volcano erupting in the last 2,000 years, according to Sernageomin, a government mining and geology agency.

Photos here.

Nevado del Huila in Colombia to Erupt?

Nevado del Huila

Reuters dice:

El Instituto de Geología de Colombia informó que aumentó el lunes a Nivel Dos la alerta del volcán Nevado del Huila, al suroeste del país, por un sorpresivo aumento de su actividad sísmica.

El Nivel Dos o Naranja significa una probabilidad de erupción en días o semanas.

El volcán hizo una erupción de cenizas y gases hace un casi un año lo que provocó una avalancha que averió puentes y carreteras en el suroeste del país sin causar víctimas fatales. En esa oportunidad, se evacuaron más de 3.000 personas en la zona afectada.

And so, folks, here's another volcano that might erupt. The area's been evacuated.

Why don't the English language, traditional media report this? Because it's in Colombia?

Volcanic News: Kilauea Explodes

Kilauea Exploding

This from AP:

VOLCANO, Hawaii - An explosion atop the long-erupting Kilauea volcano rained gravel-size rocks onto a tourist lookout, road and trail before dawn Wednesday, injuring no one but forcing parts of a national park to close.

It was the first explosion in Kilauea's main Halemaumau Crater since 1924, scattering debris over about 75 acres, said Jim Kauahikaua, scientist-in-charge at Hawaiian Volcano Observatory on the Big Island.

The 4,190-foot volcano has been erupting from fissures along its side steadily for more than a quarter-century. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park draws thousands of people daily, with a visitors center and lodge near the crater rim.

No lava erupted as part of the 3 a.m. explosion. That suggests it was caused by hydrothermal or gas buildup, Kauahikaua said.

Is it just the Dream Antilles, or have there been a lot of volcanic events in the past few months??

Tungurahua To Blow

Tungurahua

From Bloomberg:

The Tungurahua volcano in Ecuador's central Andes has begun to erupt and may spread ash across six provinces, the country's geophysical institute said.

The intensity of the eruption matches that of the violent explosions registered on July 14, 2006, with the mountain spewing ash, volcanic gases and rocks, the institute reported today on its Web site.

The heaviest period of activity so far was recorded around 1 a.m. local time, the institute said. Heavy cloud cover is limiting visibility, it added.

Falling ash will likely affect six of Ecuador's 24 provinces, it said. The government has already declared a state of emergency in several of those areas following heavy rains and flooding that led to evacuations and crop damage.

It's amazing how much seismic activity there is in South America right now.

And Now Galeras Erupts!

Galeras and the city

According to AP:

A volcano erupted violently in southwestern Colombia Thursday, spewing ash miles into the sky and prompting the evacuation of several thousand people living nearby.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or serious property damage after the 14,110-foot Galeras volcano began erupting about 8 p.m. and cascading lava lit up the night sky.

About 8,000 people live in areas near the volcano where Pasto's mayor ordered an evacuation but "most of the city is not in danger," Fernando Gil, director of Colombia's Seismological Network, told The Associated Press by phone.

Just in case you're not keeping count, that's the third South American eruption in the past month. First was Llaima, then Tungurahua. Does this have any special significance? All three volcanoes are volatile and have been for some time.

Tungurahua: Erupting?

Turgurahua in 2006

Is Tungurahua in Ecuador about to erupt? The Independent seems to think so:

Mount Tungurahua in Ecuador could erupt at any moment, spewing red hot lava down its slopes and hurling volcanic rocks on to the small town of Baños below. But, far from fearing for their lives, the town's inhabitants are angry about what they see as a media hype that is seriously damaging their livelihoods.

Tungurahua is a grumpy old soul. Lying about 100 miles south-east of Quito, the volcano normally blows smoke and ash into the sky several times an hour. Every now and then, a rumbling sound can be heard and the ground shakes a little. It sounds as if Mother Fire Throat, as the Incas called the volcano, is flexing her vocal cords.

Apparently, evacuations of people on the west side of the volcano and cattle are underway, but people in the 20,000 person town Banos who work in tourism are afraid that the threat of eruption will destroy their businesses for 6 months to a year. Already many tourists are avoiding the town.