A new eruptive pulse from the Villarrica volcano raises alerts nationwide

A new eruptive pulse from the Villarrica volcano is raising alerts nationwide, although it was expected among volcanologists, reported the Millennium Institute for Volcanic Risk Research – Ckelar Volcanes.

To understand what is happening today in the restless and effusive Villarrica volcano, one must know the area where it is located. The most active volcano in South America is located in the Southern Volcanic Zone (SVZ) of the Andes Mountains, which extends more or less from the Metropolitan Region to the Los Lagos Region.

“According to some authors who have recently compiled a report on global volcanic activity over the last century, the volcanic arc where Villarrica is located is the most productive in the world in terms of the amount of material that has been expelled from these volcanoes,” explains Daniel Díaz, a researcher at the Institute and an academic at the Department of Geophysics at the University of Chile.

The volcanologist also points out that Villarrica, within the entire volcanic arc, is the one that has had the most eruptive activity in recent decades. This justifies its being the first in the specific risk ranking of the National Geology and Mining Service, Sernageomin, and the main volcano to be studied in Chile.

“Therefore, given this context, the latest eruptive pulse is not strange. On the contrary, it is expected according to the historical behavior of the volcano,” says Dr. Díaz.

A restless volcano

According to the professor from the University of Chile, Villarrica has had, and has had, for the last few decades an activity that has been variable but constant. In the last year, the volcano has remained on Yellow Alert, so it is constantly monitored. In addition, the eruptive pulse of the weekend has already been seen in other more active periods of the massif.

“Under the surface of the Villarrica volcano, there is a magma accumulation zone. From a geological and geophysical perspective, it is believed that there are different areas of accumulation of this magma, and some of them have to do with the lava lake found in the crater of the volcano. Therefore, this last eruptive pulse could be associated with a degassing of the upper part of this magmatic system,” explains the geophysicist from Ckelar Volcanes.

The fact that it has a lava lake, adds the expert, is a peculiarity of Villarrica.

“There are some colleagues who think that this lava lake may be a kind of escape valve, considering degassing events and lava flows from the crater. For this reason, we must study this phenomenon over time, and continue to observe the behavior of this volcano, which has not had major eruptions since 2015,” she warns.

Finally, the scientist explains that an eruption of this volcano, whose surroundings are highly populated, has caused complex emergency situations in previous eruptions, therefore, it is justified that it is the most monitored in Chile. Sernageomin is daily observing the release of volcanic material, the seismological activity and analyzes gases, among other ways of studying it.

“With all these parameters, a future scenario is established of what could happen in the event of a larger eruption,” he concluded.