Chile ski station evacuated as volcano erupts

CHERQUENCO, Chile (Reuters) - Chile on Wednesday evacuatedthe remaining occupants of a southern ski station as Llaimavolcano, one of South America's most active, spewed lava for asecond day prompting fears of landslides, officials said.

Television footage showed a bright orange streak of lavastretching 1.25 miles (2 km) down a slope of the 10,253-foot(3,125 meter)-high volcano about 435 miles (700 km) south ofthe capital Santiago.

Snow-capped Llaima, near Chile's picturesque lake region,erupted violently on New Year's Day, forcing the evacuation ofsome tourists and residents from the surrounding ConguillioNational Park, and then belched ash and lava in February.

The government on Wednesday ordered a 9-mile (15 km)exclusion zone around the volcano and the evacuation of around40 people.

"All the people at the ski station have been evacuated,"said Juan Cayupi, a volcanologist at the state NationalEmergency Office. "Lava continues to flow, but a dark area hasalso been observed on the side of the volcano, which implies asmall quantity of ash has fallen."

He said a small ash column was visible above the volcano.

The fear is that snow on the volcano could melt because ofthe eruption and trigger torrents of water, other material andpossibly landslides.

Police said only the exclusion zone was being evacuated fornow.

"You still have to worry ... (given) what we saw inJanuary," a woman who lives in Cherquenco, a village 11 miles(18 kms) from the volcano, told state television channel TVN.

Other residents took it in their stride.

"We are used to this," said 77-year-old farmer Ramon as hewatched the volcano through binoculars. "But unlike in January,there is plenty of snow on the volcano and that is what cancause damage."

LLaima's renewed activity comes after Chaiten volcano, 760miles (1,220 km) south of Santiago in Chilean Patagonia,started erupting on May 2 for the first time in thousands ofyears, spewing ash, gas and molten rock.

The nearby town of Chaiten has been caked in volcanic ashand the volcano continues to emit hot gas and ash.

Ash from Chaiten, which initially soared as high as 20miles (30 km), as well as rain swelled rivers in the area.Flooding damaged dozens of houses, carrying some wooden homesoff their foundations.

Chile's chain of some 2,000 volcanoes is the world'ssecond-largest after Indonesia's. Around 50 to 60 are recordedto have erupted, while a total of 500 are regarded to bepotentially active.

(Reporting by Antonio de la Jara and Monica Vargas, Writingby Simon Gardner)