SANTIAGO, Chile - A Chilean volcano has sent out an ash cloud more than 3 miles (5 kilometres) high, and authorities there warn that a major eruption is possible.
Chile's government has evacuated 119 people from the area around the volcano and it says a river is rising as the heat melts snow and ice.
The national geology service says earthquakes are shaking the ground beneath the mountain and a major eruption could occur within hours or days. That could send up more disruptive ash clouds that could spread to the north and south of the mountain, as well as east across Argentina.
The volcano is 995 miles (1,600 kilometres) south of Chile's capital, Santiago.
Its last eruption in August 1991 killed an estimated 1.5 million sheep.
