Chaitén volcano showed increased activity today, Thursday 15 May 2008, with heavy ashfall, loud noises and many earthquakes.

The Oficina Nacional de Emergencia (ONEMI) reports today that military personnel in Chaitén ‘perceived loud noises coming from the volcano, abundant ashfalls and electrical discharges around the top of the mountain’. Heavy cloud cover and rainfall prevented observation of the eruption cloud. The ONEMI bulletin also confirms earlier reports that 90% of the town of Chaitén is flooded.

‘This further activitation of the volcano is a situation that is really worrying us’, Sergio Galilea, Intendente of the Los Lagos Region, told Reuters today. The Reuters article describes the volcano as having ‘increased its activity, with frequent small earthquakes’, and quotes Miguel Munoz of ONEMI: ‘pyroclastic flows are continuing, and there is a more pronounced emission of ash’. A report from Canal 13 observes that ‘There’s nothing encouraging in the picture from Chaitén’, with ‘heavy rains and floods nearly destroying the place, on top of increased activity from the erupting volcano’.

For all our Chaitén coverage: Chaitén << The Volcanism Blog

Information
Global Volcanism Program: Chaitén – summary information for Chaitén (1508-41)
ONEMI, Oficina Nacional de Emergencia – Chilean government emergencies office (Spanish)
SERNAGEOMIN – volcanology information from the Servicio Nacional de Geología y Minería, Chile (Spanish)

News
Aumenta actividad volcán chileno, pueblo cercano bajo lodo – Reuters América Latina, 15 May 2008 (Spanish)
Aumenta actividad de volcán Chaitén – Canal 13, 15 May 2008 (Spanish)