Interesting extract from this website about the Chilean volcano eruption:
Andrew Tupper, of the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre in Darwin, told the ABC that the Chilean ash cloud and its westward drift was an “exceptional eventâ€. “It’s got a very strong satellite signal and it’s right up there with the big, big eruption clouds ... It will keep going. I would suspect it will do a loop of the globe.â€
“The last time we saw anything like it was 20 years ago with another eruption from South America but this is actually a larger ash cloud. It’s pretty major.†The eruption of Chile’s Puyehue volcano more than a week ago had disrupted flights out of Buenos Aires. However, the westward drift of the ash cloud appeared to have caught passengers and some airlines off-guard in the middle of the Queen’s birthday holiday weekend in Australia.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1110fbee-94f0-11e0-a648-00144feab49a.html#axzz1HuaG46lX
I can't find any info on whether this eruption is a VEI4.
Karyo