The Villarrica volcano, the most risky in Chile, causes a series of earthquakes and alerts the authorities

A string of earthquakes and an unusual activity of the Villarrica volcano, considered the most risky of Chilialerted the national authorities, who are already making emergency plans for a possible eruption in a busy tourist area in the south of the country.

Since last October, the snowy Villarrica volcano2,847 meters above sea level and located between the regions of La Araucanía and Los Ríosrecords anomalous activity, which includes swarms of earthquakes and gas explosions and incandescence (pillars of fire) up to 220 meters high that are ejected from a lava lake near the crater.

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“There is a consensus between the technical evaluation that we do every day and the perception of the inhabitants of the area that although we cannot predict when the volcano may eruptthe conditions are being given for it ”, told AFP Álvaro Amigo, head of the National Volcanic Surveillance Network dependent on the National Geology and Mining Service (Sernageomin).

The situation has alerted the authorities and the population living in this area of ​​high tourist attendance.

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at the feet of Villaricaone of the most active South Americathere are exuberant forests, lakes and tourist towns. Stands out pucón, a spa with 28,523 inhabitants located about 15 km from the massif. Some 10,000 tourists climb the volcano in the southern summer, according to official figures.

“The theme of Villarica It is the risk, because there are many people living in areas that are highly exposed to what the volcano can do”, indicated, for his part, the geophysicist Cristian Farías.

The Villarrica volcano shows signs of activity seen from Pucón, some 800 kilometers south of Santiago, on December 2, 2022. (MARTÍN BERNETTI / AFP).

Villarrica is considered the most risky volcano in Chile “because it’s him more active, with recurring eruptions, high-impact processes such as volcanic alluviums and lahars; and because it has a large population and infrastructure around it,” Amigo explained.

Experts maintain that the current abnormal activity of the Villarica It is similar to the behavior it had before the last eruption that it registered in March 2015.

Back then, he presented an energetic burst of lava that reached 1.5 km in height and Sernageomin decreed a 10 km radius restriction around the volcano with no damage to people or infrastructure.

On alert

The Sernageomin decreed a yellow alert in November in four locations close to the massif, which implies the prohibition of access to a radius of 500 meters around the crater, constant monitoring of the volcano with seismological, geochemical, geodetic and satellite sensors; emergency plans and provision of resources.

The yellow is the warning prior to the orange alert, which is decreed before an imminent eruption.

sernageomin It also carries out an information campaign about the situation of the Villarica and deployed its officials in the towns surrounding the volcano to explain the evacuation plans in the event of a possible eruption.

The monitoring of Villarica It is carried out 24 hours a day from the modern Southern Andes Volcano Observatory (OVDAS), located in the city of Temuco (about 617 km south of Santiago), where volcanoes considered the most dangerous in Chile are monitored.

“What we want to convey to the public is confidence that the technology exists, the experts and that surveillance is done minute by minute”said Marcela Hernando, Chile’s mining minister.

Source: Elcomercio