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Chilean volcano could erupt a third time

By Danielle Haynes
Chile's Calbuco volcano erupts on Wednesday April 22, 2015 as seen from Playa Venado, comuna Puerto Varas, X Región in Chile. The volcano erupted twice in a period of 24 hours, marking its first eruption since 1961. Photo by Nicolás Bergström A./UPI
1 of 7 | Chile's Calbuco volcano erupts on Wednesday April 22, 2015 as seen from Playa Venado, comuna Puerto Varas, X Región in Chile. The volcano erupted twice in a period of 24 hours, marking its first eruption since 1961. Photo by Nicolás Bergström A./UPI

PUERTO OCTAY, Chile, April 24 (UPI) -- The Calbuco volcano in southern Chile could erupt a third time in as many days, geologists warned Friday.

The volcano, located near the town of Puerto Octay in Llanquihue province, had its first major eruption since 1961 on Wednesday evening. The second blast occurred around 1 a.m. local time Thursday.

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Chile's National Service of Geology and Mining issued a red alert Friday, saying another eruption could happen due to ongoing seismic activity.

"There is more seismic activity ... and we think there will be more activity today," Helmuth Huerta, a spokesman for Chile's National Geological and Mining Service, told CNN.

The first two blasts caused an enormous column of ash to spew into the air, visible for miles. Towns as far away as 70 miles -- including in Argentina -- were covered in ash up to 22 1/2 inches in some places, the Interior Ministry said.

A 12-mile exclusion zone as led to the evacuation of more than 4,000 people. Another 2,000 people in Chamiza were also evacuated after lava flows caused river levels to rise.

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All that ash in the air has caused problems with flight cancellations and delays, the BBC reported. The fine particles of ash can be damaging the airplane engines.

One Qantas flight en route from Sydney to Santiago turned back to Australia five hours into its flight, and two flights from the United States to Buenos Aires also returned to their departure cities. Two Air France flights going to Santiago and Buenos Aires landed in alternate locations.

"We don't want to take any risks as safety is our main priority. At this time, we'd advise anyone traveling with us to South America to keep on monitoring the situation. We will decide what happens to any other flights," a spokesman for Air France said.

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