Perilous Times
Chile volcano eruption getting worse, as travel woes
grow
by Staff Writers
Santiago (AFP) June 14, 2011
East African volcano eruption losing force: French agency
Toulouse, France (AFP) June 14, 2011 - The eruption of an Eritrean
volcano lost intensity on Tuesday and the risks posed to aviation
by its ash cloud diminished, the French state weather agency said.
Based on satellite imagery, Meteo France said that it was the
Nabro volcano in Eritrea that was erupting and not nearby Dubbi as
earlier reported.
"The ash cloud remains above Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan and southern
Egypt, at low altitude," said agency director Jean-Marie Carriere,
adding that with ash at less than 5,000 metres it should have
little impact on air transport.
Meteo France has been given the lead role in Europe in monitoring
volcanic debris in the atmosphere.
The agency said that it did not expect the cloud to pass over the
Arabian peninsula unless there is a significant increase in the
force of the eruption, which appears to be losing strength.
The eruption sent a plume of ash up to 15 kilometres into the air,
disrupting traffic in Eritrea and neighbouring Ethiopia.
German airline Lufthansa said it had cancelled two flights to the
region and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton cut short a visit
to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa for fears of being stuck
there.
A Chilean volcano spewing dangerous ash high into the sky, sowing
air travel havoc from South America to Australia for the past
week, could have even more intense eruptions in the days to come,
government geologists warned.
"It is possible there will be a return to increased eruptive
activity" of the Puyehue volcano in southern Chile's Andes
mountains, which started belching fumes on June 4, Chile's
National Geological and Mines Service said late Tuesday.
It said it was detecting no let-up in the volcano's emissions,
which were towering eight kilometers (five miles) into the
troposhpere. It maintained its alert level at "moderate eruption."
That was bad news for airlines flying into or over Chile,
Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, southern Brazil, and -- half a world
away -- Australia.
Passengers in those regions have had to ditch aircraft for travel
by boat or overland, or cancel plans entirely.
The chaos recalled the massive paralysis of air travel over Europe
in 2010 when an Icelandic volcano erupted.
Among the millions of passengers affected was UN Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon, who on Tuesday had to take a slow boat from Argentina
to Uruguay as he pursued a Latin America tour to secure support
for his bid for another five-year term.
From the Uruguayan capital Montevideo, Ban was scheduled to go on
to the Brazilian capital Brasilia. But a UN official speaking in
New York on condition of anonymity said: "At the moment, we have
no idea how he will get there."
On Monday, Ban's plane from Colombia was forced to land in the
Argentine city of Cordoba, and he had to travel the 645 kilometers
(400 miles) to Buenos Aires by bus on the day he celebrated his
67th birthday.
Peru's president-elect, Ollanta Humala, had to make the same sea
voyage in reverse for a Tuesday meeting with Argentine President
Cristina Kirchner.
Uruguay, which lies across a river from Buenos Aires, did resume
some air traffic by Tuesday afternoon, although 70 flights were
cancelled during the day.
Buenos Aires airports have suspended domestic and international
flights for several days now, and Chile's meteorological service
said prevailing winds would continue to blow the ash into
Argentina through Wednesday.
With flight disruptions also in Australia, it marks the first time
in 20 years that an ash cloud from an erupting South American
volcano has traveled halfway across the globe, volcanologists
said.
On Wednesday, Virgin Australia suspended flights into and out of
Perth, in western Australia, although flights resumed to Adelaide
in South Australia, with Qantas, Jetstar and Tiger all restarting
services.
But Qantas again cancelled all flights to New Zealand and the
southern island of Tasmania, as well as to Buenos Aires.
While Qantas has taken a conservative approach to the ash,
cancelling flights, Virgin has largely chosen to fly around or
under the plume with all services to New Zealand and Tasmania
operating.
But it is taking no chances with Perth, saying the cloud is now
lower and more dangerous.
"Virgin will suspend flights to and from Perth from 1:00 pm (0500
GMT) today," spokeswoman Melissa Thomson told Sky News, adding
that around 12 services would be affected.
"The information we have received ... is that the plume is much
lower. The decision to suspend services is taken with safety
uppermost in our minds."
Airservices Australia said the cloud approaching Western Australia
covered a band between 15,000-35,000 feet (4.5-10.5 kilometers)
Chilean seismologist Enrique Valdivieso said the eruption could
run its course within a week, but it was hard to know based on
precedent. The volcano's last major eruption in 1960 lasted two
weeks, but an earlier one in 1921 lasted two months.
The June 4 eruption has been hardest for tourist areas near the
volcano like Argentina's alpine-style resort of Bariloche, where
the airport has been closed for a week, and Villa Angostura, which
is 30 kilometers (18 miles) away.
The Argentine government on Tuesday declared an agricultural
emergency in three southern provinces, although the agriculture
ministry noted in a press release that "in no case was there ash
of more than 15 centimeters (six inches)."
The eruption in 2010 of the Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjoell, caused
the biggest aerial shutdown in Europe since World War II,
affecting more than 100,000 flights and eight million passengers.
Puyehue's eruption sent columns of debris 10,000 meters (six
miles) high, blanketing the picturesque mountains and lakes along
the Chile-Argentina border in a snowy white ash and prompting the
evacuation of 3,500 people.
Chile's National Emergencies Office kept its alert in the red for
the area around the volcano.