The regional government of La Araucanía, the region within which Llaima volcano is situated, increased the Yellow Alert status to Red Alert today at 14:00 local time. The details are in ONEMI bulletin no. 382:

The Intedenta of La Araucanía Region, on the basis of the technical recommendation of ONEMI, decided to declare Red Alert from 14:00 today, for the localities El Danubio, La Selva, Los Lleuques, Santa Ana, Colonia Caupolicán and Las Mercedes, along the Calbuco river, on the slopes of Llaima volcano, western sector, where about 40 people reside. The foregoing results from the increased activity of Llaima volcano and the presence of a frontal system bringing significant rainfall to the region.

SERNAGEOMIN have released another bulletin on the eruption at Llaima today which, although it does not cover the most recent activity, confirms the overall impression of an increasing level of activity:

The eruptive phase of the ‘Hawaiian’ type begun on 30 June and characterized by the passive emission of basaltic lava has evolved into activity of a weak ‘Strombolian’ type, characterized both by the emission of ash and gases from the pyroclastic cone situated inside the main crater and the erupting of lava, which continued on 3 July.

The bulletin describes ‘a sustained increase in seismic energy’ and a rise in harmonic tremor during 2 and 3 July, associated with an increased rate of lava emission, while the strombolian activity at main crater reached heights of up to 400m above the summit. On the evening of 3 July an eruption plume from Llaima was stretching 50km to the east-south-east.

The latest press coverage from Chile reports the Red Alert, and the increased rate of lava emission and the threat of lahars. Terra España reports that the volcano has ‘expelled pyroclastic material from its crater while increasing the flow of lava down one of its slopes, [the flow] extending to a length of about three kilometres, without reaching populated areas’. The Governor of one of the affected districts, Cautín, tells La Segunda that lahars along the river Calbuco are his biggest concern, but that so far the water level ‘has increased only slightly due to rain and snow’. He describes the current situation as ‘not alarming’ but says that ‘we have taken all measures to protect the people in the course of the river Calbuco’ and that if evacuation should become necessary all the arrangements are in place to ensure it can be done speedily.

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

News
Chile declara alerta roja por mayor actividad de volcán Llaima - Reuters América Latina, 4 July 2008 (Spanish)
El volcán Llaima incrementa su actividad en el sur de Chile y obliga a mantener la alerta roja - Terra España, 4 July 2008 (Spanish)
Volcán Llaima aumentó su actividad y autoridades intensifican vigilancia - Terra España, 4 July 2008 (Spanish)
Crecida del río Calbuco preocupa a gobernador de Cautín - La Segunda, 4 July 2008 (Spanish)

Information
Global Volcanism Program: Llaima - summary information for Llaima (1507-11=)
Volcán Llaima - information from the Observatorio Volcanológico de los Andes del Sur (Spanish)
Oficina Nacional de Emergencia - Chilean government emergencies office (Spanish)
SERNAGEOMIN - Servicio Nacional de Geología y Minería, Chile (Spanish)
Proyecto Observación Visual Volcán Llaima - Llaima Visual Observation Project