Volcanic Traffic Light

Have you ever heard of a traffic light for volcanoes?
Well you can find one in Pucon, Chile.

Downtown in front of the Municipal building (and next to the fire station) you will find a traffic light that lets you know in what state the local volcano, called Volcán Villarrica, is in. Even though the town is wedged between the imposing volcano and the lake, you still may need to check out this traffic light above to confirm that the red stuff spurting from the volcano top is actually lava and not just raspberry sludge.

And to help you figure out what is happening, they have the following sign to let you know what each colour means.



Below is an English translation of the sign above:

Volcanic Risk Alert System
Located in the Municipality Building front Entrance

Green Indicates:
Presence of fumaroles and increase of them
Underground noise and continuous local seismic activity
Glacier cracks
Sulphurous smell

Amber Indicates:
Medium to strong earthquakes
Reddish glows and moderate blasts
Temperature increase in thermal pools
Small lava flows

Red Indicates:
RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!!!!! (just kidding)
Strong and continuous seismic activity
Tremor banded seismic swarms
Blasts and Explosions
Pyroclastic flow
Lahar generation

If you live in:
Los Arrayanes – Libertad – Bomberos de Chile – El Claro - Jardines del Claro – Sector Aeropuerto – Villa entre Rios
You must go to: Los Calabozos Alto
And just a random Spanish lesson for your curiosity… Calabozos means Dungeons in Spanish. So your choice is between being the next Pompeian-like attraction curled up on the side of the street or go to a dungeon.

If you live in:
Tres Esquinas – Pucon Centro – Cordillera Alto y Bajo – Prudencia Mora – Aduana – Esfuerzo – Maitahue – Villa Lafquen – Las Vertientes – Las Castaños – Camino Volcan – Antumalal – La Turbina – Las Araucarios – Obispo Valdés – El Bosque – Los Robles – Estadio ...
Basically you are screwed because the lava will get you and turn you into a crispy critter before you can get anywhere safe (just kidding if you hadn’t noticed)
You must go to: La Península

Now if the volcano were exploding with hot rocks the size of cars crashing about you, do you think you would ready need to go to the Municipal building to see if the light were red and then calmly read where you have to go?

All kidding aside, it shows that Volcan Villarrica can be a real threat. Just look at the wisps of smoke coming out of it every day showing how active it really is.

Oh, and if you are interested, there are loads of guided tours that take you up to the crater at a hideous hour of the morning (leave at 5 or 6am). My wife and I did the trek as a part of our honeymoon trip many years ago.