MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Evacuees from Chile’s Puyehue volcano allowed back to their homes

The volcanic ash cloud reached as far as south Brazil, the Falklands and Australia

Evacuations ordered after an eruption in Chile’s Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcanic complex begun to be lifted on Sunday for various areas in southern Chile’s Los Ríos and Los Lagos regions, over 600 miles south of Santiago.

Populations surrounding the volcanic complex were ordered to evacuate in the days following the initial eruption on Saturday, June 4.

According to ONEMI, Chile’s national emergency office, inhabitants from the Mantilhue and Río Bueno sectors in the Los Ríos region, as well as those living between Anticura and the Argentine border, are now allowed to return home.

Enrique Valdivieso, national director of Chile’s geology and mining service (Sernageomin) told local press that seismic activity has significantly decreased, allowing the service to begin selectively withdrawing the evacuation orders, even when many evacuees left on their own and thus did not register with the government.

By Monday morning, at least 120 individuals were confirmed to have returned to their homes, according to El Mercurio.

Los Lagos Regional Governor Juan Montes expressed his gratitude for the residents who he said “completely respected the preventative evacuation instruction, regardless of the high personal costs.”

Although various sectors have been declared as safe, areas located north of the volcano remain in previous conditions of red alert. “We do not dare assume that the emergency has been resolved. We are merely allowing certain areas to temporarily return home, however, restrictions could be reinstated if necessary,” said Valdivieso.

Such precautionary evacuation orders continue to apply to the areas of Quirrasco, Pichico, Pocura, Las Quemas, Contrafuerte, Los Venados, El Zapallo and Riñinahue.

On Monday afternoon local media reported an increase in ash falling on Chilean sectors following a change in wind patterns. Previously most of the ash has been concentrated across the border, including in the popular Argentine tourist city Bariloche.

By Andrea Felíz Garcia – The Santiago Times