Volcanos in Chile and Peru rumble to life

A volcano in South Chile began erupting last week spewing ash miles into the sky and forcing thousands to evacuate.

The Chaiten volcano, about 760 miles south of the capital of Santiago began erupting on Friday sending a plume of ash thousands of feet into the sky and affecting many cities to the east in Argentina.

On Tuesday, new eruptions sent another cloud of ash 12 miles into the air and lava began pouring out of the mountain as well. A crater about 800 meters (2,600 feet) wide was created.

Authorities ordered everyone out of the immediate region. About 8,000 of 12,000 residents have left.

There are more than 100 active volcanoes in Chile of which two dozen are capable of erupting at any time. Geologists believe Chaiten has not erupted in the last 9,000 years.

Since the eruptions began on May 2, more than 4,000 people had fled the towns of towns of Chaiten and Futaleufu in the Palena province. Government authorities, including president Michele Bachelet, were on hand throughout the weekend to oversee the efforts.

Officials said that dozens of small earthquakes have been recorded in the area since the eruptions began.

In Southern Peru, the volcano Ubinas has been erupting for the past several weeks but not in as explosive fashion as Chatien. Over the weekend two new eruptions sent a cloud of ash more than 500 meters into the sky.

The mountain roared to life in March of 2006 but later quieted enough for residents to return. As of this week the more than five thousand residents in the region are waiting to see if they need to evacuate again.

A volcano in the Galapagos begins to erupt

Over the past two weeks, things have been heating up in Ecuador's Galapagos Islands.

The volcano on uninhabited Fernandina Island, at the far west of Ecuador's chain, has been rumbling to life of late according to Ecuador's Geophysics Institute.

On Aug. 28 an eruption of the volcano followed a 5.2 magnitude Richter Scale earthquake in the Beagle sector of Isabella island on the western flank of the volcano Darwin.

Fernandina is the tallest island in the archipelago with 1,494 meters above sea level. The last eruption happened in May 2005, leaving a large amount of lava down its southeastern flank. Fernandina has had between 20 and 22 eruptions since 1813.

Perhaps the most famed account of the mountain erupting was recorded by Captain Benjamin Morrell of the schooner Tartar in 1825. Anchored in nearby Banks Bay on Feb 14, he and his crew were startled to see the mountain begin to erupt but quickly put up sails to flee.

It was a close thing, according to his account. The air temperature reached almost 150 degrees and the tar in the rigging began to melt and the pitch holding the ship together began to liquify. But they caught a breeze and made it to safety about 50 miles away.


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