Event Summary
Chile’s Puyehue volcano, dormant for decades, erupted on Saturday, June 4, 2011, prompting the evacuation of several thousand residents in the regions of Los Rios and Los Lagos, and spreading ash into San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina. Officials in Bariloche closed the airport there. Shelters have been established in the Lakes Region and the Americas High School Boarding School between the lakes. Residents in Bariloche were asked to remain calm, save water and stay in their homes because the rain of ash may extend for long. It also recommended that, if necessary, the use of masks.
Santiago – A volcano dormant for decades erupted in south-central Chile on Saturday, belching ash over 6 miles (10 km) into the sky and prompting the government to evacuate several thousand residents, authorities said.
Winds fanned the ash toward neighboring Argentina, darkening the sky in the ski resort city of San Carlos de Bariloche, a government official there said, adding the city’s airport had been closed.
The eruption in the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic chain, about 575 miles (920 km) south of the capital, Santiago, also prompted Chilean authorities to shut a heavily traveled border crossing into Argentina.
It was not immediately clear which of the chain’s four volcanoes had erupted, because of ash cover and weather conditions. The chain last saw a major eruption in 1960. Local media said the smell of sulfur hung in the air and there was constant seismic activity.
