Chile ash cloud disrupts flights on two continents
BUENOS AIRES - A cloud of volcanic ash in Chile delayed flights across South America and Australia, stranding thousands of passengers and forcing UN chief Ban Ki-moon on a night bus.
The eruption of Puyehue volcano in the Andes, has entered a second week, spewing ash that disrupted air travel on a scale unseen since the clouds of volcanic Iceland paralyzed Europe in 2010.
Buenos Aires airports suspended domestic flights and international on Sunday night for the third time in a week, causing a crisis meeting on Monday to assess the situation, the Argentine Civil Aviation Administration said.
"The weather deteriorated again, with predictions that the cloud of volcanic ash in suspension will remain in the area at the airport Ezeiza and Jorge Newbery Airpark Metropolitan," the agency said.
At Ezeiza International Airport, a tourist from Ecuador eagerly awaiting a break in the clouds at dusk to go home for medical treatment.
"We're biting your nails, we are so worried," she said.
Daniel Alegrin been stranded at the airport after a flight to Alicante, Spain have been delayed one week.
"We come from Rosario (Argentina) and the (airline) refused to take responsibility for our return on the grounds that it was a natural disaster," he said.
The UN secretary general has become the best person to be blocked high after being forced on the hard night bus to meet with Argentine leaders on Monday. Worse still - it was his birthday.
All ended well as the ban, which marked its 67th anniversary on Monday, he made the capital in time to meet with Argentine leaders and gain their support for a second term as secretary general.
"We are very pleased to welcome him and tell him that we support with the joy of his reelection," said Argentine President Cristina Kirchner.
Montevideo Carrasco Airport in neighboring Uruguay international has also suspended operations, with 70 flights canceled, officials said, and Brazil has halted all flights to Uruguay and Argentina.
The Meteorological Service of Chile, said prevailing winds continue to blow out the ashes in Argentina on Wednesday.
Chili seismologist Enrique Valdivieso said the eruption could follow its course in the week, but it was difficult to know based on precedents. An eruption in 1960 lasted two weeks, but earlier, in 1921, lasted two months.
June 4th eruption was more difficult for the tourist areas near the volcano as the alpine resort of Bariloche, where the airport was closed for a week, and Villa La Angostura, which is 30 kilometers (18 miles).
1960 Chile Earthquake - News
blanketing the picturesque mountains and lakes along the Chile-Argentina border in a snowy white ash and prompting the evacuation of 3500 people. Its last major eruption was in 1960, following a 9.5 magnitude earthquake -- the largest on record.
The last time the Puyehue-Cordón Caulle vents erupted was on May 24, 1960, 38 hours after a massive 9.5-magnitude earthquake struck off Chile. The country is also on the so-called 'Pacific Ring of Fire', an arc of fault lines circling the Pacific Basin
May 24, 1960, the date of the last eruption in the Puyehue-Cordón Caulle, the location of four volcanos including Puyehue. Two days prior, on May 22, 1960, the world's largest earthquake in recorded history, the 9.5 Great Chilean Earthquake also dubbed
He says that about the biggest earthquake considered plausible is one that would be twice the size of the massive Chile earthquake in 1960, which the US Geological Survey says was the strongest of the 20th century. It was registered as a magnitude 9.5
Round-The-World Ski Expedition, contacted him for an on the ground report in the aftermath of the Chilean eruption. Kempel's father drowned in a tsunami following an earthquake in 1960 which also triggered an eruption in the same volcanic range.
chile volcano
off Chile Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano erupted last Saturday.
Many flights from airports in the southern Brazilian cities like Porto Alegre and Florianopolis - some 2500 km (1,550 miles) from the volcano - were canceled Friday.
But a correspondent for the Brazilian service of the BBC says that the situation returns to normal, the winds blow the fine gray ash over the Atlantic.
Spokesman fearsA Ski season in Montevideo Carrasco International airport told the AFP news agency there was a small chance that the aircraft could start to take off and land there on Friday evening.
And airport authorities in Buenos Aires flights can also hope to resume the same time, if - as expected - the ash cloud clears.
However, several other airports in Argentina - mainly in Patagonia - remain closed, prompting fears for the ski season in the region at the beginning of the austral winter.
Workers in the seaside resort of Bariloche in Patagonia 600 trucks filled with ash that fell on the main runway at the local airport.
EvacuationMeanwhile forced, just across the border to Bariloche, Chile, the volcano continues to erupt.
On Thursday, government scientists monitoring the volcano reported a slight increase in seismic activity.
Near the river Nilahue, which runs off the slopes of the volcano broke its banks, is blocked by sediment ash.
Its waters are steamed in places that have been heated by the volcanic materials at 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit).
Authorities fear that recent heavy rains could cause mudslides of volcanic debris.
Most small communities in this area have already been evacuated.
But officials are a brigade of special police and evacuate the 14 remaining inhabitants of the exclusion zone, against the wishes of residents.
It is the first serious eruption of the volcano chain since 1960 when the area was hit by a massive earthquake.
Chile is one of the most volcanic countries on Earth. There are over 3000 volcanoes dotted along its entire length, and about 80 of them are active.
1960 Chile Earthquake - Bookshelf
Journal of geophysical research, Space physics
L. (1989), The 1960 Chilean earthquakes, J. Geophvs. .... Alaskan earthquake of 1964 and Chilean earthquake of 1960: Implications for arc tectonics, ...Journal of geophysical research, Space physics
The 1960 Chilean Earthquakes INES L. ClFUENTES1 Lamont-Doherty Geological ... The rupture length of the great 1960 Chilean earthquake is estimated from the ...Earthquakes
It caused more than 2000 deaths in Chile. Coastline water height records in Japan show that the 1960 Chile earthquake produced the largest tsunami in the ...Earthquake engineering, from engineering seismology to performance-based engineering
Hence, as can be expected, when moment magnitudes were assigned to the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the 1960 Chilean earthquake, the magnitude of the ...The seismic design handbook
Hence, as can be expected, when moment magnitudes were assigned to the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 and the Chilean earthquake of 1960, the magnitude of ...Day-to-day Posts Directory
1960 Valdivia earthquake - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1960 Valdivia earthquake or Great Chilean Earthquake (Spanish: ... The second earthquake affected all of Chile between Talca and Chiloé Island, more than ...
Historic Earthquakes
USGS Earthquake Hazards Program, responsible for monitoring, reporting, and researching earthquakes and earthquake hazards
1960 Chilean Tsunami
On May 22, 1960, at 19:11 GMT, an earthquake occurred off the coast of South Central Chile. ... The inhabitants, fearing the earthquake, took to small boats to ...
EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI OF 22 MAY 1960 IN CHILE - Dr.George ...
CHILE EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI OF 22 MAY 1960. George Pararas-Carayannis ... On May 22, 1960, the largest recorded earthquake this century occured off the coast of ...
2010 Chile Earthquake - Wikipedia
Article about the 8.8 Chile earthquake that occurred off the coast of the Maule Region of Chile, on February 27, 2010. Learn about the powerful quake's aftershocks ...
