Volcano
eruptions are, as a rule, spectacular events. And Calbuco volcano in
Chile has erupted twice in the last day. Located in the southern Los
Lagos region of Chile, it has erupted ten times since 1837. However, it
had remained dormant since 1972, and this eruption has caught everyone
by surprise. The volcano towers over the cities of Puerto Montt and
Puerto Varas, with a combined population of 250,000 people. The
authorities have announced a 20km radius evacuation zone, and even
Argentina is warning her citizens – living about a 100 km away – to stay
at home, in case of volcanic ash. And judging by the footage of the
volcano, there’s going to be a lot of ash. There’s a great deal of smoke
rising from the volcano, and it has had some fiery, lightning streaked
eruptions, too.
And while we can stay at home and watch
these stunning pictures, the local Chileans have a lot to worry about.
Calbuco is a stratovolcano, which is fancy talk for “composite volcano”,
which is made up of layers of ash, pumice, lava and so forth. Krakatoa
was one of these, and its explosion in 1883 was felt around the world,
as well as killing more that thirty thousand people. Vesuvius is a an
another notable stratovolcano. One thing that’s especially dangerous
about them is their propensity for producing pyroclastic flows –
frighteningly fast ground-hugging flows of ash, debris and hot gas.
These flows caused the Krakatoa tsunamis that killed loads of people,
and they doomed Pompeii as well.
Hopefully, the Chileans will only experience astonishing views.
Image source: imgur.com
Image source: time.com
Image source: AFP/Scanpix
Image source: NoticiasVirales
Image source: Marcelo Ultreras
Image source: Roger Smith
Image source: Philip Oyarzo
Image source: Marcelo Ultreras
Image source: imgur.com
Image source: Roger Smith
Image source: Max Perez
Image source: Reuters/Scanpix
