Satellites observe South American volcano

GREENBELT, Md., June 6 (UPI) -- NASA says three of its satellites captured images of an erupting volcano in Chile with a large plume of ash extending at least 6 miles high.

About 3,500 people were evacuated when the Puyehue-Cordon volcano in Puyehue National Park in the Andes of Ranco province of Chile began erupting Saturday, CNN reported.

NASA said its Terra satellite flew over the volcano Monday and captured an image of the eruption that showed the large ash plume blowing northeast, and then to the southeast and over the Atlantic Ocean.

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites called GOES-13 and GOES-11 captured images of the volcano from different vantage points in space that revealed the plume was visible from even farther away, a NASA release said.

GOES-13 monitors the eastern United States and the Atlantic Ocean, while GOES-11 monitors the western United States and eastern Pacific Ocean.

The GOES-11 satellite image, taken from the farthest distance away of the three satellites, still showed the triangular-shaped plume from its vantage point over the western United States.