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Report on Lascar (Chile) — 4 January-10 January 2012


Lascar

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 4 January-10 January 2012
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2012. Report on Lascar (Chile) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 4 January-10 January 2012. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (4 January-10 January 2012)

Lascar

Chile

23.37°S, 67.73°W; summit elev. 5592 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


OVDAS-SERNAGEOMIN reported increased seismicity at Láscar on 5 January and raised the Alert Level from Green to Yellow. On 8 January ONEMI authorities warned residents about the new Alert Level status and restricted residents from going within a 20-km radius of the volcano.

Geological Summary. Láscar is the most active volcano of the northern Chilean Andes. The andesitic-to-dacitic stratovolcano contains six overlapping summit craters. Prominent lava flows descend its NW flanks. An older, higher stratovolcano 5 km E, Volcán Aguas Calientes, displays a well-developed summit crater and a probable Holocene lava flow near its summit (de Silva and Francis, 1991). Láscar consists of two major edifices; activity began at the eastern volcano and then shifted to the western cone. The largest eruption took place about 26,500 years ago, and following the eruption of the Tumbres scoria flow about 9000 years ago, activity shifted back to the eastern edifice, where three overlapping craters were formed. Frequent small-to-moderate explosive eruptions have been recorded since the mid-19th century, along with periodic larger eruptions that produced ashfall hundreds of kilometers away. The largest historical eruption took place in 1993, producing pyroclastic flows to 8.5 km NW of the summit and ashfall in Buenos Aires.

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