page_title: Ring of Fire
section_title: Chile
hierarchical_section_title: Ring of Fire / Andes / Chile
caption_attribution_description: 2006 eruption of Lascar Volcano. Cropped version of Image:Lascar eruption 2006b.jpg.
context_page_description: The Ring of Fire is a major area in the basin of the Pacific Ocean where many earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur. In a large 40,000 km horseshoe shape, it is associated with a nearly continuous series of oceanic trenches, volcanic arcs, and volcanic belts and plate movements. It has 452 volcanoes.
  About 90% of the world's earthquakes and about 81% of the world's largest earthquakes occur along the Ring of Fire. All but three of the world's 25 largest volcanic eruptions of the last 11,700 years occurred at volcanoes in the Ring of Fire. The Ring of Fire is a direct result of plate tectonics: the movement and collisions of lithospheric plates, especially subduction in the northern portion. The western portion is more complex, with a number of smaller tectonic plates in collision with the Pacific Plate from the Mariana Islands, the Philippines, Bougainville, Tonga, and New Zealand.
context_section_description: The volcanoes in Chile are monitored by the National Geology and Mining Service (SERNAGEOMIN)
  Earthquake activity in Chile is related to subduction of the Nazca Plate to the east. Chile notably holds the record for the largest earthquake ever recorded, the 1960 Valdivia earthquake. Villarrica, one of Chile's most active volcanoes, rises above Villarrica Lake and the town of Villarrica. It is the westernmost of three large stratovolcanoes that trend perpendicular to the Andean chain. A 6-kilometre-wide (3.7 mi) caldera formed during the late Pleistocene, more than 0.9 million years ago.
  A 2-kilometre-wide (1.2 mi) postglacial caldera is located at the base of the presently active dominantly basaltic-to-andesitic cone at the northwest margin of the Pleistocene caldera. About 25 scoria cones dot Villarica's flanks. Plinian eruptions and pyroclastic flows have been produced during the Holocene from this dominantly basaltic volcano, but historical eruptions have consisted of largely mild-to-moderate explosive activity with occasional lava effusion. Lahars from the glacier-covered volcanoes have damaged towns on its flanks.
  The Llaima Volcano is one of the largest and most active volcanoes in Chile. It is situated 82 km (51 mi) northeast of Temuco and 663 km (412 mi) southeast of Santiago, within the borders of Conguillío National Park. Llaima's activity has been documented since the 17th century, and consists of several separate episodes of moderate explosive eruptions with occasional lava flows. The last major eruption occurred in 1994.
  Chile has experienced numerous volcanic eruptions from 60 volcanoes, including Llaima Volcano and the Chaitén Volcano. More recently, a magnitude-8.8 earthquake struck central Chile on February 27, 2010, the Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcano erupted in 2011, and a M8.2 earthquake struck northern Chile on April 1, 2014.  The main shock was preceded by a number of moderate to large shocks and was followed by a large number of moderate to very large aftershocks, including a magnitude-7.6 event on 2 April.
  Lascar is a stratovolcano and the most active volcano of the northern Chilean Andes. The largest eruption of Lascar took place about 26,500 years ago, and following the eruption of the Tumbres scoria flow about 9,000 years ago, activity shifted back to the eastern edifice, where three overlapping craters were formed. Frequent small-to-moderate explosive eruptions have been recorded from Lascar in historical time since the mid-19th century, along with periodic larger eruptions that produced ash and tephra fall up to hundreds of kilometers away from the volcano. The largest eruption of Lascar in recent history took place in 1993, producing pyroclastic flows as far as 8.5 km (5 mi) northwest of the summit and ash fall in Buenos Aires, Argentina, more than 1,600 km (994 mi) to the southeast. The latest series of eruptions began on 18 April 2006 and was continuing as of 2011.
  Chiliques is a stratovolcano located in the Antofagasta Region of Chile, immediately north of Cerro Miscanti. Laguna Lejía lies to the north of the volcano and has been dormant for at least 10,000 years, but is now showing signs of life. A January 6, 2002, nighttime thermal infrared image from ASTER revealed a hot spot in the summit crater, as well as several others along the upper flanks of the volcano's edifice, indicating new volcanic activity. Examination of an earlier nighttime thermal infrared image from May 24, 2000, showed no such hot spots.
  Calbuco is a stratovolcano in southern Chile, located southeast of Llanquihue Lake and northwest of Chapo Lake, in Los Lagos Region. The volcano and the surrounding area are protected within Llanquihue National Reserve. It is a very explosive andesite volcano that underwent edifice collapse in the late Pleistocene, producing a volcanic debris avalanche that reached the lake.  At least nine eruptions occurred since 1837, with the latest one in 1972. One of the largest historical eruptions in southern Chile took place there in 1893–1894. Violent eruptions ejected 30 cm (12 in) bombs to di
caption: Lascar erupting in 2006
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