Villarrica volcano (Central Chile): powerful paroxysm last night, some lava jets reached 150 meters

Vigorous lava fountain from the summit vent on 14 Jan (image: AngaritaVPhotography)

Vigorous lava fountain from the summit vent on 14 Jan (image: AngaritaVPhotography)

The intense fountaining activity continues.

A strong eruptive episode (so-called paroxysm) took place from the summit vent, starting at 21:30 local time last night up to 06:00 local time this morning. About 70 lava fountains were being monitored during the period, of which the most vigorous one’s heights reached lava jets surpassed 150 meters.

According to locals, vibrations on windows were reported about 8 km distance from the volcano.

Given the past paroxysms that happened so far, Villarrica’s tendency seems to produce such events in series at roughly regular intervals of approx. 24 hours.

Source: Proyecto Observación Villarrica volcano activity update 16 January 2023

Some lava jets reached 150 m in height last night (image: POVI)