Chilean Volcano Keeps Rumbling

Ash from Chile eruption closing in on Beunos Aires

(NEWSER) - A mammoth plume of ash and smoke from a newly erupted volcano in Chile is slowly working its way across South America and now poses a health risk to the 8 million residents of Beunos Aires, AFP reports. Thousands of residents of southern Chile were evacuated Tuesday, with ash coating city streets and health officials urging people to don masks. More»

6.2, 6.8 jolts hit day after massive earthquake

(NEWSER) - Northern Chile trembled again today as two strong aftershocks jolted through the region, Reuters reports. No casualties were immediately reported in the wake of the tremors—which registered 6.2 and 6.8, respectively, according to the US Geological Survey—near the mining center of Antofagasta, but residents and emergency workers remained on edge. More»

Police consider charges of manslaughter, abandoning ship

(NEWSER) - Italian police today detained the captain of a cruise ship that ran aground last night , killing at least three and triggering a massive overnight evacuation off Italy's west coast, CNN reports. Authorities say they may charge captain Francesco Schettino for manslaughter and abandoning ship. They also want to know why the 4,200-passenger Costa Concordia, which struck shallow rocks and rolled on its side, didn't send out an early mayday. More»

Cordon Caulle has been going for six weeks now

(AP) - The 100 million tons of ash and rock spewed by an Andean volcano has meant hundreds of millions of dollars in losses for communities accustomed to profiting from the dramatic mountain landscape. The Cordon Caulle volcano opened a new gash along a ridge just across the border and upwind from Argentina. For six weeks now, it has been belching ash into the sky, grounding flights across the lower third of South America for most of the winter tourist season. More»

(AP) - A volatile volcano in central Indonesia unleashed its most powerful eruption yet today, spewing hot ash and smoke thousands of feet into the air and sending panicked villagers racing back to emergency shelters. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Mount Lokon, located on northern Sulawesi island, has been dormant for years but rumbled back to life late last week. Surono, a government volcanologist who uses only one name, said today's 10:35am eruption released the greatest amount of energy so far, shooting soot and debris 11,400 feet into the sky. More»