Volcano Villarrica in southern Chile erupted in the early hours yesterday, sending a plume of ash and lava high into the sky, and forcing the evacuation of nearby communities.

The volcano, located near the popular tourist resort of Pucon around 750 kilometres south of the capital Santiago, is one of South America’s most active. It last erupted in 2000.

A column of ash and rock particles shot up to three kilometres into the sky overnight. Although the initial violent eruption was short-lived, intermittent clouds of steam and gas continue to issue from the volcano.

A major lava flow is not expected, said Luis Lara, head of national geological service Sernageomin yesterday morning, but that could change.

“After an eruptive pulse, which was pretty intense but very short at 3am (0600 GMT), the volcanic system remains unstable and it is possible that something similar could occur again in the next few hours,” he said.

Some 3,385 people had been evacuated as a preventative measure, said Interior Minister Rodrigo Penailillo. There were no reports of any injuries.

Ash from the volcano was for now well under the flight paths used by commercial airliners, and flights were unaffected, said Juan Carlos Rojas, air transit head at the government’s civil aero­nautics division.

Chile, situated on the so-called Pacific Rim of Fire, has the second largest chain of volcanoes in the world after Indonesia, including around 500 that are potentially active.

In 2011, the eruption of Puyehue sent an ash cloud into the atmosphere that disrupted flights in neighbouring Argentina for months.

Over 2,000 people were evacuated from Pucon, which normally serves as a centre for hotels and adventure tourism, including dozens who climb snowcapped Villarrica every day.

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