Ancient Volcano Erupts after 10,000 Years

clipped from news.aol.com The Chaiten volcano spewed light ash on a nearly deserted village Saturday, two days after its first eruption in thousands of years Just six miles away, the volcano belched fat smoke plumes that at times rose as high as 12 miles into the air, the government's Emergency Bureau said. Winds carried the ash to other towns in the region and across the Andes mountains to Argentina, where two airlines suspended flights due to poor visibility. The Chaiten volcano has "probably been dormant for about 9,000 or 10,000 years but that's not unusual," said Charles Stern, a professor of volcanology at the University of Colorado who specializes in Andes volcanoes. "This could be the end of our town," "We have worked an entire life here and now all we could do was to put a few things in a bag and depart, leaving everything behind."