Eruption of the Calbuco Volcano

This Wednesday, April 22nd, 2015, the Calbuco Volcano entered surprisingly into eruption at about 6pm local time. This first eruption resulted in a huge ash cloud. During a second one, which happened in the early morning hours of Thursday, April 23rd, 2015, also lava blew out. Currently, the volcanic activity is declining, but there is an ash cloud of 11km height standing over the volcano.

No damages to persons or mayor damages to the local infrastructure have been reported so far. One person is missing. The localities within a 20 km radius around the volcano have been evacuated for safety reasons, and the National Chilean Emergency Management Agency has proclaimed the alarm level “red” for the Province of Llanquihue. Flights from and to Puerto Montt are cancelled for the moment, also due to safety reasons.

There are no travelArt clients affected at the moment. Though, due to the alarm level “red”, we are not able to undertake any tours to the southern lakes region (Puerto Varas and surroundings) until further notice. Puerto Varas and Puerto Montt are not affected by the evacuation, but in case of such emergencies, safety comes first. Your travelArt sales partner will inform you about alternative tours.

Due to the very high ash cloud, even farer localities in Chile and Argentina may be affected by ash rains, such as Bariloche and surroundings in Argentina as well as Pucón and Huilo Huilo in the northern lakes region.

At this time, experts are undertaking an overflight of the volcano, in order to provide more specific information about the volcanic activity. We are in permanent contact with our local partners and constantly monitoring the news emitted by the National Chilean Emergency Management Agency in order to keep you updated.