Evacuation Ordered as Chilean Volcano Begins to Spew Ash

Preceded by dozens of tremors, the volcano — until now considered inactive — began erupting last Friday. It covered about 60 square miles with more than 15 inches of ash, rendering the air unbreathable, contaminating water sources, killing livestock and destroying all small- and medium-scale agriculture in this rural and mostly impoverished area 800 miles south of the capital, Santiago.

An enormous gray mushroom cloud of ash that could be seen from 100 miles away has since loomed over this sliver of land next to Argentina, where continental Chile breaks up into archipelagos. East winds have spread ash toward Argentina. The thick layer of volcanic ash, coupled with rain, has made access to the sparsely populated border zone difficult.

About 8,000 residents of nearby towns have been evacuated since theweekend. There have been no deaths or injuries reported, although a92-year-old woman died of a heart attack as she was evacuated fromChaitén on Sunday.

After flying over the area on Tuesday morning,specialists from the National Geology and Mining Service said that theyhad found no evidence of lava flowing from the volcano, although theywere able to see lava at the base of the large crater. This is thefirst time the Chaitén volcano has erupted in at least 2,000 years,according to service officials.

Since the weekend, themilitary, navy and police have helped ship out several thousandresidents from Chaitén, situated only six miles away from the base ofthe volcano and near the Chaitén Bay. About 20 families are stillrefusing to leave their homes, animals and belongings in spite of thepresidential order, which makes no exceptions for military, police orjournalists.

On Tuesday, hundreds of residents in Futaleufú,just miles from the border, were being evacuated voluntarily by bus,crossing over to Argentina for part of the journey.