Volcanoes – lovely to admire from a distance, rather pesky to face up close. The Calbuco volcano in southern Chile is proving that point as residents of nearby Ensenada have been forced to flee their homes as volcanic ash rains down around them.

The town, said to have a population of around 1 500, currently resembles a ghost town as all but 30 of the hardiest residents have packed up and evacuated after Wednesday’s eruption. TIME reports:

As the ash cloud spread Wednesday, “people went into a state of panic,” said Miguel Silva Diaz, an engineer who lives in Puerto Montt, a city about 14 miles (22 kilometers) from the volcano. “Then, at around 1 a.m., I heard a loud noise, as if somebody had detonated an atomic bomb.”

Winds blew ash in a widening arc across to Argentina. No injuries were reported and the only person reported missing since the eruption was located Thursday.

Chile’s national geology and mining service had more bad news as they warned a third eruption, more aggressive than the previous two, may well occur in the coming days. The ash that is enveloping the area is set to get worse, with the possibility of resulting eye and skin infections increasing as a result.

The volcano last erupted in 1972 and obviously had some pent-up anger issues to resolve. These pictures below show just how visually spectacular the eruptions were.

It’s all beginning to resemble somewhere Frodo and his buddy Samwise might head to destroy a dangerous ring.

[source:time]