Calbuco
The eruption of Calbuco on April 22.
Chile's Calbuco volcano has been sleeping since 1972--and yesterday, it woke up with a start. The peak finally erupted, sending a huge ash plume into the air pouring out of the mountain's vents shortly afterwards.
Calbuco's eruption took locals by surprise, but the government moved quickly, about 4,000 people from a 12-mile radius around the volcano.
The volcano is considered to be among the three volcanoes in Chile--a not-insignificant designation in a country with about 90 active volcanoes. Luckily, no deaths or injuries have been reported so far. And just like when the Villarrica volcano (also in Chile) , there is some amazing visual documentation of this eruption.
BBC News readers sent in of the event, which occurred near sunset, giving early pictures of the explosion a surprisingly peaceful quality.
Even more incredible are some of the amazing timelapses and taken by people who were lucky enough to be in the area (at a safe distance of course). One of the most incredible videos to make the rounds was by Rodrigo Barrera.
Awesome, but kind of tranquil, right? For a more dramatic view, check out this GIF of the eruption, taken from a camera at a local airport:
And just as a reminder, this is what the volcano looked like from about 1972 until yesterday evening:
Calbuco
A view of the volcano in 2012.
The triggers behind a volcanic eruption are still being investigated by volcanologists around the world. Just like earthquakes, accurately forecasting an eruption is something only possible in a Hollywood script. Luckily, cutting-edge technologies like , , and are letting scientists get a closer look at volcanoes before they lose their tempers, so that in the future, the next eruption might not be such a surprise.