The Chaiten Volcano in Chile erupted on Friday, May 2, 2008. This image, captured May 3, shows the enormous ash plume rising high over the Andes mountains, drifting across Argentina, and dissipates over the Atlantic Ocean. Ash closed schools, roads, and an airport in Argentina, hundreds of kilometers away from the volcano, said AFP.

On Tuesday, May 6, 2008, the volcano erupted again, spewing pyroclastic materials like hot ash, gas and rocks 19 miles into the air. This image was captured that same day by the MODIS on the Terra satellite, during its morning overpass. The resulting plume from the volcano was again visible over Argentina, stretching to the ocean.

The nearby town of Chaiten was affected by the eruption, though most of the town's residents had been evacuated after the initial blast. The town of Futaleufu, near the Argentinian border, has also been evacuated. There have not been lava flows from the volcano yet - but 6-12 inches of ash of been reported in some places.

The plume of ash and steam rose 10.7 to 16.8 kilometers (35,000 to 55,000 feet) into the atmosphere, reported the Smithsonian’s Global Volcanism Program. According to news reports issues by the AFP news service, ash blanketed the town of Chaiten, 10 kilometers away, forcing the town’s 4,000 people to evacuate by boat.

The volcano has a history of explosive eruptions with pryoclastic flows associated with dome collapse. During an eruption, some volcanoes build a dome of lava. Eventually, hot blocks of lava break away from the dome, triggering a fast-moving avalanche of hot volcanic ash, gas, and lava, called a pyroclastic flow. As of May 5, ash continued to rise from the volcano, but no pyroclastic flows had been reported.