Volcano erupts in Chile, hundreds evacuated

Chile's Calbuco volcano has erupted for the first time in more than four decades, sending a billowing a huge ash cloud over a sparsely populated, mountainous area.

Authorities ordered the evacuation of the 1,500 inhabitants of the nearby town of Ensenada, along with residents of two smaller communities in southern Chile.

The National Mining and Geology Service issued a high alert, barring access to the area around the volcano, which lies near the cities of Puerto Varas and Puerto Montt, a little more than 620 miles south of Chile's capital, Santiago.

"For us it was a surprise," said Alejandro Verges, regional emergency director of the Los Lagos region where the eruption took place.

“In this situation, with the eruption column so high, the main risk is that it collapses, falls due to gravity because of its own weight and causes a pyroclastic flow," Gabriel Orozco, a volcanologist with Chile’s geological and mining service, said on local TV.

A pyroclastic flow is a superheated current of gas and rock that can destroy nearly everything in its path and travel at speeds upwards of 125 to 185 miles per hour.

The 6,500 foot high Calbuco last erupted in 1972 and is considered one of the most potentially dangerous among Chile's 90 active volcanoes.

Villarica, one of South America's most active volcanoes, erupted in southern Chile last month, spewing heavy smoke into the air as lava surged down its slopes and forcing authorities to evacuate thousands of people. The 9,000 foot high volcano sits above the small city of Pucon. Tourists visit the area for outdoor activities, including hiking around the volcano.

"This is clearly a much larger eruption than the one we saw with the Villarica some weeks ago and therefore we need to take bigger and faster measures," Interior and Security Minister Rodrigo Penailillo said of the Calbuco eruption.

LATAM Airlines said it has canceled flights to and from neighboring Puerto Montt, the area's largest city, due to the presence of volcanic ash, which can potentially damage aircraft and make flying dangerous.

Trevor Moffat, who lives in Ensenada, about six miles from the volcano, said he and his family fled when it erupted.

"It sounded like a big tractor trailer passing by the road, rattling and shaking, guttural rumbling. ... We left everything there, grabbed my kid, my dog, got in the car with my wife," Moffat said. "All the neighbors were outside, a lot of young people crying. Armageddon type reaction."

Wire services