The 2000-year dormant Chaiten volcano blasted ash some 20 miles into the Andean sky on Tuesday. As a result, the government ordered the evacuation of everyone living within a 30-mile radius of it. The military, navy and police helped to the evacuation process of thousands of people living in the neighbourhood of the volcano’s base.

Chaiten made the air unbreathable, contaminated waterwells, destroyed agriculture in the area. Livestock was killed because they consumed plants and water contaminated by volcanic ash. It is feared that the soil in that region might not ever recover or if it does, it will take a few decades.

“The soil in the area covered by this volume of ash deposits will be practically lost,” said Wilfredo Vera, engineer from the University of Chile, quoted by the New York Times. Chilean President Michelle Bachelet promised to provide subsidies and aid for people who lost their homes or livestock. She also convoked an emergency committee of ministers to debates in seeking solutions.

“The situation is rather complicated. The volcano continues erupting, and we don’t know how long this will last. It could be a day, a week or more.” said Interior Minister Edmundo Pérez, as quoted by the Times.

Several schools and a regional airport have been closed.

Volcanoes spew sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere. This element turns into sulfuric acid and forms a thin white cloud in the atmosphere, that reflects sunlight away from Earth. Fortunately, the volcano didn’t ptyalize more than a few thousands tons of sulfur dioxide, so this eruption will not affect the global climate, since the rate at which this might happen is 1 million tons.