The Intendente of Los Lagos Region, Sergio Galilea, and the Presidential Delegate responsible for the oversight of governmental response to the Chaitén emergency, Paula Narváez, gave a joint press conference today. It was not a cheerful occasion.

‘The situation of the Chaitén volcano is very difficult’, said Sergio Galilea, ’and eventually the volcanic activity could be much worse than it has been before … there is a high probability that the volcano could generate explosions and the shedding of the column of ash over the city’ With a touch of his old optimism,  Galilea also said that the authorities had ‘managed to save 40% of Chaitén’, but that ‘eventually, Chaitén could suffer far more than it has been touched by suffering so far’. (El Repuertero)

The authorities’ view, as articulated at the press conference, is that there is a continuing risk of an explosive collapse of the dome or a collapse of the eruption column and that the next 72 hours would be crucial in evaluating the volcano’s behaviour. It was also observed that heavy rainfall and rising rivers pose a continuing threat to Chaitén. Overall, the situation ‘represents an unfavourable outlook for the town’, which is perhaps putting it mildly. (Radio Cooperativa)

Paula Narváez observed that the authorities respected the ‘deep attachment’ of the people of Chaitén ’to their land, to their home’ and understand why some did not wish to leave, but said that the vast majority had shown a ‘co-operative attitude’ during the latest evacuation, and ‘had not remained in at-risk areas’. Apparently six people who had chosen to remain in the town would not present a problem, as five of them had since left of their own free will and the sixth was drunk. (Radio Cooperativa)

For all our Chaitén coverage: Chaitén « The Volcanism Blog

News
Autoridades regionales nos ponen en alerta ‘El Volcán podría explotar’ – El Repuertero, 25 July 2008 (Spanish)
Delegada por Chaitén irá a la justicia para desalojar completamente la ciudad – Radio Cooperativa, 25 July 2008 (Spanish)
Autoridades desistieron de presentar recurso de protección para evacuar Chaitén – Radio Cooperativa, 25 July 2008 (Spanish)

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