The Calbuco volcano in Chile erupted on two different occasions. The first time was on Wednesday but the second time it exploded with a lot more plosives than the first time. The volcano had been dormant for about 42 years before it became active on two consecutive occasions. Ashes went as high as 12 miles into the air. These ashes that deposited to the depth of about 23.5 inches or 60 cms.
The biggest apathy is that the eruptions have occurred in popular tourist destinations. Towns of Puerto Varas and Puerot Montt in Southern Chile were set on an alert in the wake of these eruptions. The rescue operations evacuated about 4,000 residents of Purto Montt and other adjoining areas.
Officials from the army and other armed forces in the country were deployed to rescue the survivors. Sources from the Interior Ministry say there can be more than 4,400 residents trapped under the debris. An evacuation zone of 20 kilometers was created around the crater for the purpose of fishing out survivors.
The first eruption on Wednesday threw up a mushroom cloud coupled with a lot of ashes. It created a lot of panic among denizens. There was a lot of chaos followed by traffic jams with people running helter-skelter for cover.
Some people from adjoining towns were lucky enough to capture the moments in their cameras. There are photographs and videos of how lightening struck soon after the volcano erupted. A lot of ash clouds gather around the volcano. There is a significant amount of static electricity created in them.