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Report on Villarrica (Chile) — 29 April-5 May 2015


Villarrica

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 29 April-5 May 2015
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2015. Report on Villarrica (Chile) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 29 April-5 May 2015. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (29 April-5 May 2015)

Villarrica

Chile

39.42°S, 71.93°W; summit elev. 2847 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


OVDAS-SERNAGEOMIN reported moderate seismic activity during 29 April-5 May. Nighttime crater incandescence and a thermal anomaly detected daily in satellite images suggested an active lava lake, with mild and periodic Strombolian activity. Gas emissions were visible in the daytime. The Alert Level remained at Orange (the second highest level on a four-color scale) and the public was warned to stay outside of a 5-km radius around the crater and away from drainages.

Geological Summary. The glacier-covered Villarrica stratovolcano, in the northern Lakes District of central Chile, is ~15 km south of the city of Pucon. A 2-km-wide caldera that formed about 3,500 years ago is located at the base of the presently active, dominantly basaltic to basaltic-andesite cone at the NW margin of a 6-km-wide Pleistocene caldera. More than 30 scoria cones and fissure vents are present on the flanks. Plinian eruptions and pyroclastic flows that have extended up to 20 km from the volcano were produced during the Holocene. Lava flows up to 18 km long have issued from summit and flank vents. Eruptions documented since 1558 CE have consisted largely of mild-to-moderate explosive activity with occasional lava effusion. Glaciers cover 40 km2 of the volcano, and lahars have damaged towns on its flanks.

Sources: Servicio Nacional de Geología y Minería (SERNAGEOMIN), Oficina Nacional de Emergencia-Ministerio del Interior (ONEMI)