Chile’s Villarrica volcano erupted this morning producing a spectacular lava fountain!! More info here and pics at Erik Klemetti’s ERUPTIONS blog on wired.com. Gif above from this POVI time-lapse at youtube.

The eruption spread ash over the neighboring region and an accompanying lava flow melted snow on the slopes of the volcano (see below) creating some small volcanic mudflows and debris flows. Currently, over 3,300 people have been evacuated from the small towns around Villarrica, including the vacation town of Pucón. The eruption started at ~3 a.m. (local time) and TV footage showed the deluge of lava bombs that rained down on the slopes during the peak of the eruption.

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