Bariloche (Argentina) and Southern Chile on alert after volcano eruption

© Photo courtesy of Constanza Yañez
The Puyehue volcano eruption, as seen from the Chilean side.

The entire city of San Carlos de Bariloche turned dark as ash spewed by the nearby Chilean volcano Puyehue began falling all over town. Meanwhile, the Civil Defence Municipal Board called an emergency meeting to decide on how to proceed.

Authorities told the population to remain calm, to keep their water reserves and to remain home at all times in order to avoid the falling ash. In case of an emergency, officials have suggested the use of face masks in order to avoid it.

As an orange alert was declared, authorities shut down the airport.

Earlier, five quakes ranging between 4.6 and 4.8 in the Richter scale had been registered in the south of the Neuquén province, while a few kilometres away, across the border with Chile, some 600 people were evacuated due to the sudden eruption.

The quakes' epicentre was near the town of Villa La Angostura, and they all took place between yesterday and today, local Río Negro newspaper assured.

Even though Security and Civil Defence Secretary David Tressens assured that there is no apparent relation between the quakes and the volcano eruption, on the other side of the border, Chilean authorities have already evacuated over 600 people from the area surrounding the volcano, where eleven quakes have been registered since yesterday.