POVI reported that incandescence from two vents on the floor of Villarrica’s summit crater was visible, reflected by gas-and-steam emissions, during the early morning (around 0336) of 12 July. At around 1551 on 13 July a series of gas-and-steam pulses that contained some ash that was deposited on the upper E flank. According to Corporación Ciudadana Red Nacional de Emergencia incandescence was also reflected by gas-and-steam plumes on 16 July. The Volcanic Alert level remained at Yellow (the second highest on a four-level scale) according to SERNAGEOMIN. SENAPRED maintained the Alert Level at Yellow (the middle level on a three-color scale) for the communities of Villarrica, Pucón (16 km N), Curarrehue, and Panguipulli, and SINAPRED maintained an exclusion zone of 500 m from the crater.

Geological Summary. The glacier-covered Villarrica stratovolcano, in the northern Lakes District of central Chile, is ~15 km south of the city of Pucon. A 2-km-wide caldera that formed about 3,500 years ago is located at the base of the presently active, dominantly basaltic to basaltic-andesite cone at the NW margin of a 6-km-wide Pleistocene caldera. More than 30 scoria cones and fissure vents are present on the flanks. Plinian eruptions and pyroclastic flows that have extended up to 20 km from the volcano were produced during the Holocene. Lava flows up to 18 km long have issued from summit and flank vents. Eruptions documented since 1558 CE have consisted largely of mild-to-moderate explosive activity with occasional lava effusion. Glaciers cover 40 km2 of the volcano, and lahars have damaged towns on its flanks.

Sources: Proyecto Observación Villarrica Internet (POVI), Servicio Nacional de Geología y Minería (SERNAGEOMIN), Sistema y Servicio Nacional de Prevención y Repuesta Ante Desastres (SENAPRED), Corporación Ciudadana Red Nacional de Emergencia