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Monitoring of Volcano Eruption Impacts in Chile. / May 5, 2015 /

A state of emergency was declared in Los Lagos, Chile following two volcano eruptions occurred over less than 24 hours. The volcano erupted for the first time late at night on 22 April 2015 and lasted for an hour forming a 10-kilometer ash cloud. The second eruption occurred 7 hours later next morning and was just as powerful as the first, according to early data.

Thousands of people were evacuated within a 20-kilometer radius of the volcano. There were no injuries reported; a red alert was declared after the first eruption; the inhabitants of Ensenada and other settlements near the volcano were evacuated. The neighboring cities of Puerto Montt and Puerto Varas have been also affected by the eruption; the city of Puerto Montt is covered currently with an ash cloud.

According to the geologist prediction, the ash cloud will drift in northeasterly direction. According to witnesses, each eruption produced a lava fountain that may arise the melting of glaciers on the mountain and potential flooding due to river overflowing. Presently, the probability of the third eruption is rather high.

On request of the Chilean National Office for Emergency (ONEMI), during the period between 23.04.2015 and the present date, the ROSCOSMOS has imaged the affected territory using the Resurs-P No.1 and Kanopus-V No.1 spacecraft; four strips covering an area of 29,823 square km have been delivered to the affected party. The space data acquired has been processed at the Research Center for Earth Operative monitoring (NTs OMZ) of JSC „Russian Space Systems“.

The images from Kanopus-V No.1 on 27 April 2015 in different band color combinations are given below. The volcano crater, ash cloud, and smoke plume are clearly seen in the images.

ROSCOSMOS Press Service

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