The Copahue Volcano in Chile is showing signs that it may be about to erupt in a possibly violent explosion. A red alert has been issued and evacuation has begun of the area surrounding the volcano, which lies near Chile's border with Argentina. This is the highest level of warning, indicating that an eruption is likely within hours or days.
Evacuations were ordered for people living within a 15.5 miles of the volcano. This will affect 2,240 people in 460 families, according to estimates from Chilean authorities.
Copahue "...is now in a process that risks turning into an eruption, for that reason we've issued a red alert," Andres Chadwick, Interior Minister, said in a news conference. His assertion was based on the conclusions provided by Sernageomin, the National Geological and Mining Service in Chile.
Heavy rains in the area could hamper the mandatory evacuation efforts which could take up to 48 hours to complete, according to Chile's Emergency Office.
"This evacuation is obligatory; it's not voluntary," Chadwick said.
No volcanic tremor has yet been measured, which is often the prelude to an eruption. However, Sernageomin reports sensing over 250 tiny tremors per hour caused by the movement of magma beneath the surface of the volcano.
Argentina's neighboring province, Neuquen, issued a less-serious yellow alert, which does not call for evacuations. However, Caviahue-Copahue in southwestern Argentina did suspend school classes. The village is home to about 900 people.
Copahue is an active stratovolcano east-southeast of the Chilean city of Los Angeles. It stands over 9,800 feet tall in central Chile's Bio Bio region. Eruptions from Copahue are classified as explosive. The volcano has erupted three previous times since 2000. Explosive eruptions of mild to moderate strength have been recorded at Copahue since 1750, according to the Smithsonian Institution.
The latest prediction from Sernageomin expects a mild explosive event like the one that occurred in December 2012, when the volcano spewed gas and steam into the air. A similar red alert was issued for Copahue December 23, 2012 during that event. The last major eruption of Copahue was in 1992.
In 2011, ash from a volcano in Chile's Puyehue-Cordon Caulle chain caused the cancellation of hundreds of flights, mostly in Argentina and Uruguay.
