Puyehue volcano in Chile erupts
An erupting Chilean volcano sent a towering plume of ash across South America on Monday, forcing thousands from their homes, grounding airline flights in southern Argentina and coating ski resorts with a gritty layer of dust instead of snow.
Section:Picture story
A column of smoke and volcanic lightning are seen over the Puyehue volcano, over 500 miles south of Santiago, Chile, Sunday June 5, 2011.
Francisco Negroni, AgenciaUno Associated Press
A column of smoke and volcanic lightning are seen over the Puyehue volcano, over 500 miles south of Santiago, Chile, Sunday June 5, 2011.
Francisco Negroni, AgenciaUno Associated Press
Booming explosions echoed across the Andes as toxic gases belched up from a three-mile-long (five-kilometer long) fissure in the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic complex — a ridge between two craters just west of the Chilean-Argentine border that began erupting Saturday. Winds blew a six-mile-high (10-kilometer-high) cloud of ash all the way to the Atlantic Ocean and even into southern Buenos Aires province, hundreds of miles to the northeast.
Associated Press
Volcanic lightning is seen over the Puyehue volcano, over 500 miles south of Santiago, Chile, Sunday June 5, 2011. Authorities have evacuated about 600 people in the nearby area.
Francisco Negroni, AgenciaUno Associated Press
Spectacular displays of lightning flashed in the volcanic clouds during the weekend, and while the amount of ash falling east of the volcano subsided significantly by Monday, experts said it was too early to predict how long it will take before the volcano falls silent.
Associated Press
Lightning strikes over the Puyehue volcano, over 500 miles south of Santiago, Chile, Monday, June 6, 2011.
Francisco Negroni, AgenciaUno Associated Press
Authorities in Chile went house to house, trying to persuade stragglers near the volcano to leave because of an increasing danger of toxic gas and flash floods. By Monday, about 4,000 people had been evacuated from more than 22 communities. They began fleeing as swarms of earthquakes Saturday heralded the eruption and hundreds more fled Monday to shelters farther away.
Associated Press
A blanket of volcanic ash covers a neighborhood in San Carlos de Bariloche, southern Argentina, Sunday, June 5, 2011. The Puyehue volcano, dormant for decades, erupted in south-central Chile on Saturday. The wind carried ash across the Andes to Argentina, dusting this tourist town which had to close its airport.
Alfredo Leiva Associated Press
Volcanic dust coated ski slopes above San Carlos de Bariloche and Villa la Angostura two weeks before the official start of the winter skiing season. The resorts' trade group said it was too early to say how it would affect the local economy, but for now, residents were told to stay indoors and tourists were asked not to come.
Associated Press
Ashes coming from Chile’s Puyehue volcano are removed from the windshield of a car by a woman in San Carlos de Bariloche, southern Argentina, Saturday, June 4, 2011.
Alfredo Leiva Associated Press
Workers use bulldozers to remove volcanic ash that blew in from the erupting Puyehue volcano, into San Carlos de Bariloche, southern Argentina, Sunday June 5, 2011.
Alfredo Leiva Associated Press
The ash cloud first blew over Argentina and then circled back over Chile on Sunday. By Monday, however, prevailing winds had spread the ash eastward as far as Bahia Blanca, in southern Buenos Aires province on the Argentine coast. During the weekend, the volcano spat out pumice rocks nearly eight inches (20 centimeters) in diameter.
Associated Press
A man removes volcanic ash from his roof using water from a garden hose in San Carlos de Bariloche, southern Argentina, Sunday June 5, 2011.
Alfredo Leiva Associated Press
Because airborne ash can severely damage jet engines, all flights between Buenos Aires and the Andean resorts of Bariloche, Esquel and Chapelco were canceled until June 12. Seven other airports in Argentina were closed through Thursday, effectively isolating the southern Patagonia region from the rest of the country. Aerolineas Argentinas also canceled nighttime flights well to the north of the volcanoes, from Buenos Aires to Santiago, Chile, and Mendoza, Argentina. LAN airlines suspended more than 35 flights from Chile to southern Argentina, and some highways in Argentina also were closed.
Associated Press
A boy riding his bike looks at a plume of smoke and ash merging from the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano in Rininahue near Lago Ranco, over 500 miles south of Santiago, Chile, Monday June 6, 2011.
Carlos Succo Associated Press
The 11-mile-long (17-kilometer-long) Cordon Caulle rises 5,900-feet (1,800 meters) above sea level between the Pueyehue and Nevada volcanoes, above a connected complex of molten rock. Chile has more than 3,000 volcanoes along its Andean spine, and 500 of these are considered geologically active. About 60 Of these have erupted in the last 450 years.
Associated Press
Residents of Rininahue look at a plume of smoke and ash merging from the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano in Rininahue near Lago Ranco, over 500 miles south of Santiago, Chile, Monday June 6, 2011.
Carlos Succo Associated Press
A photo released by NASA is a June 4, 2011, photo of Chile’s Puyehue-Cordón Caulle Volcano was made by the MODI Aqua satellite shortly after the eruption began showing the brown plume rising above the clouds. The eruption has forced thousands from their homes, grounded airline flights in southern Argentina and coated ski resorts with a gritty layer of dust instead of snow.
NASA Associated Press
This natural-color satellite image provided by NASA was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard Terra satellite on the morning of June 6, 2011 of the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle eruption in Chile. In the mage, the ash plume from the volcano is visible as it blows first northeast, then southeast across Argentina toward the Atlantic ocean.
NASA Associated Press
Brazilian tourists Vanesa and Lucas Bremm sit in the Jorge Newbery Airport after their flight was cancelled due to an ash cloud that reached Buenos Aires from Chile’s Peyuhue volcano, grounding most air travel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday June 7, 2011. The wind carried volcanic ash across the Andes to Argentina resulting in the closing of six airports, and the cancellation of flights in the capital city. The Puyehue volcano, dormant for decades, erupted in south-central Chile on Saturday.
Natacha Pisarenko Associated Press
Two people stand look out from the usually rocky lake shore, at the ash covered Nahuel Huapi lake, in San Carlos de Bariloche, southern Argentina, Tuesday June 7, 2011.
Alfredo Leiva Associated Press
A plane is seen covered in volcanic ash in San Carlos de Bariloche airport, southern Argentina, Tuesday June 7, 2011.
Alfredo Leiva Associated Press