Chaitén Eruption

Chaitén volcano is located in Pumalín Park—established by the American entrepreneur Doug Tompkins—in southern Chile. The volcano erupted in May 2008, throwing a plume of ash 19 miles into the sky, unleashing a lateral blast that flattened a forest, and triggering floods of ash, called lahars, down upon the town of Chaitén.

Julia Jones, an ecologist from Oregon State, documents the devastation of the forest.

Steam rises from the dome at Chaitén volcano behind me above the forest flattened by its explosion.

The eruption inundated the town of Chaitén with a flood of ash.