SANTIAGO, Chile — Chile’s Calbuco volcano has erupted for the first time in more than 42 years, and Chilean authorities have ordered the evacuation of the few thousand people living in a town a few miles away.

The National Mining and Geology Service has issued a high alert, barring access to the mountainous area around the volcano in southern Chile. The area is sparsely populated, with only a few small communities. The town of Ensenada is being evacuated as a precaution.

The volcano’s last eruption was in 1972 and it is considered one of the top three most potentially dangerous among Chile’s 90 active volcanos.