Guest Thinkers — September 1, 2010

On the Chaiten Front

Chaiten Ash

To keep us up to date on the goings-on at Chaiten in southern Chile, well, the volcano is still erupting! Yes, two weeks in and heavy ash is still being erupted from vent. The latest reports are vague, but Chilean officials are saying things like “There’s been additional volcanic activity that we’re really worried about…” Now, I can only speculate what this means, but this might be an indicate that the SERNAGEOMIN are really beginning to seriously consider that the whole volcano may collapse.

The town of Chaiten, even without a collapse, is pretty much been wiped off the map. 90% of the town has been ravaged by flood waters/lahars from the eruption. The town itself has been declared off limits for 3 months … but that is a conservative estimate at this point.

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Chaiten Eruption, Day 7

nn Another day, another development at Chaiten. Military stationed near the volcano helping with evacuations reported “booming noises” and saw incandescent blocks getting hurled from the vent area. This suggests that lava […]