Recreational Volcanology

Toronto Sun: Chilean volcano evacuees return as eruption eases

A volcanic eruption in southern Chile that sent a plume of ash circling the globe and caused air traffic chaos has eased, allowing more than 4,200 evacuees to return home, the government said Sunday.

Airborne ash from the volcano in Chile’s Puyehue-Cordon Caulle chain, which erupted on June 4 after decades of dormancy, was carried around the world by winds.

The fine particles, which can damage jet engines, forced the sporadic cancellation of hundreds of flights from Argentina to Australia in recent weeks.

Ash could potentially hamper flights for months, experts said.

But a decrease in the force of the eruption has raised hopes the situation is stabilizing.

That was good news for more than 4,200 people who were evacuated.

“We have decided those who had to evacuate can return to their homes, because the volcanic activity is decreasing,” Interior Minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter told a news conference.

He said, however, the volcano would likely emit ash for some time. The eruption sent an ash cloud up to 20 miles into the atmosphere.

The air traffic chaos in South America buffeted operations at carriers, including Chile’s LAN, Brazil’s TAM and Gol.

LAN briefly interrupted domestic Chilean flights south to Patagonia on Friday, before resuming service.

Iceland’s most active volcano at Grimsvotn sent a thick plume of ash and smoke 15.5 miles into the sky last month, disrupting air travel in northern Europe and Britain.

The eruption of another Icelandic volcano in April 2010, Eyjafjallajokull, led to 100,000 canceled flights, affecting 10 million people at a cost of $1.7 billion.

The Chilean eruption has also coated tourist towns in southern Argentina with gray ash, impacting livestock and deterring visitors during the lucrative winter season.

It was the latest in a series of volcanic eruptions in Chile in recent years. Chile’s Chaiten volcano erupted spectacularly in 2008 for the first time in thousands of years, spewing molten rock and a vast cloud of ash that reached the stratosphere.

The Llaima volcano, one of South America’s most active, erupted in 2008 and 2009.

Chile’s chain of about 2,000 volcanoes is the world’s second-largest after Indonesia’s. Some 50 to 60 are on record as having erupted, and 500 are potentially active.