************************************************************** From: Richard Wunderman <WUNDERMA@xxxxxx> ************************************************************** Minchinmávida (an ice-covered stratovolcano in S. Chile) last erupted in the year 1835, but this morning (2 May) I had a call on my voicemail from Mike Turk (Washington VAAC) announcing a sudden explosive eruption there. Mike said that very poor visibility was present from the ground but from various observations the ash plume's top reached **55,000 feet** altitude. People were unable to see the sky. Several strong pulses apparently occurred, and the main activity went from 0700-1300 UTC (six hours). Information is still sketchy but we will provide news on the homepage of our website as we have time and it is available. The volcano resides in the Andes near the coast ~300 km N of Cerro Hudson. The coastline here is sheltered from the Pacific by a large island (Isla de Chiloe). My atlas suggests that the nearest large town is Esquel (Argentina), which sits several hundred kilometer away and almost directly E of Minchinmavida. See GVP data (including lat/long) at http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=1508-04= (we lack any monthly or weekly reports). The Chilean agency SERNAGEOMIN is a likely place to see authoritative postings http://www.sernageomin.cl/index.php?plantilla=categoria&option=com_content&task=section&id=39&Itemid=43 ============================================================== To unsubscribe from the volcano list, send the message: signoff volcano to: listserv@xxxxxxx, or write to: volcano-request@xxxxxxxx To contribute to the volcano list, send your message to: volcano@xxxxxxxx Please do not send attachments. ==============================================================
