Lascar eruption (Chile)

Lascar volcano erupted last week, as the Buenos Aires VAAC reported: seen on satellite imagery early on 4 May, Lascar volcano in Chile sent an ash plume into the 4.5-10.6 km a.s.l. range (15,000-35,000 feet), where it was moving to the SE.

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Background. Lascar is the most active volcano of the northern Chilean Andes. The andesitic -to- dacitic stratovolcano contains six overlapping summitcraters and lies 5 km W of an older, higher stratovolcano, Volcán Aguas Calientes. Lascar consists of two major edifices; activity began at the eastern volcano and then shifted to the western cone. The largest eruption of Lascar took place about 26,500 years ago, and following the eruption of theTumbres scoria flow about 9,000 years ago, activity shifted back to the eastern edifice, where three overlapping craters were formed. Frequent small-to-moderate explosive eruptions have been recorded from Lascar in historical time since the mid-19th century, along with periodic larger eruptions that produced ashfall hundreds of kilometers away from the volcano. The largest historical eruption of Lascar took place in 1993 and produced pyroclastic flows that extended up to 8.5 km NW of the summit.

Source: GVP/USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 4-10 May 2005

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