The Láscar volcano, in northern Chile, saw an increase in activity this Saturday, triggering small earthquakes and a six kilometer high column of smoke.
“At 12:36 local time, the monitoring stations installed near the Láscar volcano recorded an earthquake related to the dynamics of the fluids in the volcanic system,” Chile’s National Service of Geology and Mining (Sernageomin) said. ).
The volcano in the Chilean Andes sent “an erupting column” of volcanic ash and hot gases 6,000 meters above the crater, he added.
Due to the increased activity, authorities have changed the alert level around the mountain to yellow and created a security perimeter. They also alerted the nearest town, Talabre, 30 kilometers away, in case residents needed to be evacuated. But no damage was found.
Láscar is located at an altitude of 5592 meters, in the Antofagasta region, 70 km from San Pedro de Atacama, one of the main tourist attractions in Chile.
It last erupted in 1993, but volcanic activity has also been recorded in 2006 and 2015.
Further south, there are still yellow warnings around the Nevados de Chillán volcanic complex, 385 kilometers south of the capital Santiago, and Villarica volcano, 800 kilometers away.
Source: DN
