Energy from Puyehue volcano is equal to 70 bombs

According to a study published by Argentine scientists, the eruption energy of Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic cluster in Chile amounted to 1,000 kiloton equivalent to 70 atomic bombs or 2% of global electricity.

A village covered with ash of the Puyehue volcano . (Source: AFP / VNA)

Physicists at the Río Negro National University are located in one of the Argentina provinces most affected by the eruption, calculating that Puyehue volcano sprayed 100 million tons of ash, sand and lava, and left cleaning them up requires 24 million dump trucks.

On June 4, the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic cluster, belonging to the Andes Mountains and bordering Argentina, erupted with the average height of the ash columns to 5,000m. The ash and dust of the volcanic cluster covered 1,700km ² with an average thickness of 10cm.

The eruptions of the Puyehue volcano have caused economic losses of millions of dollars to Argentina, due to hundreds of commercial flights being delayed and many of the country's famous tourist areas in the south suffering from ash covered, as well as agricultural activities affected.