An explosion early today at 05:03 h (local time) ejected incandescent fragments to 1.5 km distance from the crater on the northeastern slope and generated a column of ash that reached more than 2 km height above the crater and was dispersed to the SW. In addition, 28 smaller steam-gas-ash explosions occurred during the past 24 hours and a constant steam and gas plume is rising from the volcano.
SANTIAGO, Chile – Chilean and Argentine officials issued a red alert Monday for the increasingly active Copahue volcano bordering the two countries and ordered the evacuation of about 3,000 people.
Chilean Interior and Security Minister Andres Chadwick said the increased activity could lead to an eruption and officials would soon begin evacuating 2,240 people, or 460 families, within a 15.5-mile radius.
"This evacuation is obligatory; it's not voluntary," Chadwick told reporters.
Chile's Emergency Office said the evacuation could last about 48 hours, but could be delayed because of heavy rains.
Chirinkotan (Northern Kuriles): The remote volcano in the northern Kuriles is probably in eruption, the latest SVERT report and satellite images suggest. A plume of gas and steam, and possibly some minor amounts ash was seen with the MODIS sensor onboard the NASA Terra satellite this morning. Satellite data also indicate that activity had likely already started in early May, because a small thermal anomaly can be traced back on archive pictures to 7 May. One should take into account that frequent dense cloud cover often prevents such observations, so activity could have started earlier than that.
