June 6, 2011 at 5:00 pm

Picture of the Day: Chile’s Puyehue Volcano Erupts

by twistedsifter

picture of the day Picture of the Day: Chiles Puyehue Volcano Erupts

 

CHILE’S PUYEHUE VOLCANO ERUPTS

 

chiles puyehue volcano eruption june 2011 2 Picture of the Day: Chiles Puyehue Volcano Erupts
Photogrpah by Reuters/Air Force of Chile/Handout

 

On Saturday, a volcano in the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle chain of south-central Chile erupted after lying dormant for more than 50 years. The government evacuated several thousand residents as Puyehue threw ash more than 6 miles (10 km) into the sky, pushing the plume toward neighboring Argentina. Authorities had already put the area around the volcano on alert after a flurry of earthquakes earlier on Saturday — at one point, the tremors reached an average of 230 per hour.

Be sure to check The Atlantic’s In Focus for more incredible photographs of this volcanic eruption.

 

chiles puyehue volcano eruption june 2011 3 Picture of the Day: Chiles Puyehue Volcano Erupts
Photograph by Claudio Santana/AFP/Getty Images

 

chiles puyehue volcano eruption june 2011 1 Picture of the Day: Chiles Puyehue Volcano Erupts
Photograph by AP Photo/Francisco Negroni, AgenciaUno

 

via The Atlantic’s In Focus with Alan Taylor