On 11 February, ODVAS-SERNAGEOMIN reported that a camera, installed 800 m from the center of Chaitén's lava-dome complex in late January, showed incandescence and gas emissions on 28 January. Seismicity had also increased during 21 January-3 February. The Alert Level remained at Red. Based on web camera views and analyses of satellite imagery, the Buenos Aires VAAC reported that a steam-and-gas plume drifted 25 km NW on 11 February at an altitude of 2.4 km (8,000 ft) a.s.l.

Geological Summary. Chaitén is a small caldera (~3 km in diameter) located 10 km NE of the town of Chaitén on the Gulf of Corcovado. Multiple explosive eruptions throughout the Holocene have been identified. A rhyolitic obsidian lava dome occupies much of the caldera floor. Obsidian cobbles from this dome found in the Blanco River are the source of artifacts from archaeological sites along the Pacific coast as far as 400 km from the volcano to the N and S. The caldera is breached on the SW side by a river that drains to the bay of Chaitén. The first recorded eruption, beginning in 2008, produced major rhyolitic explosive activity and building a new dome and tephra cone on the older rhyolite dome.

Sources: Servicio Nacional de Geología y Minería (SERNAGEOMIN), Buenos Aires Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC)