Timelapse footage shows graceful side to volcano eruption

Timelapse footage reveals yesterday's volcano eruption at Calbuco in southern Chile not as a terrifying sight but as an event of grand beauty.

The 22-second video, uploaded on YouTube, shows a huge tower of lava and orange ash bubbling several kilometres up from the 2000m-high volcano and forming a giant mushroom in the sky.

The time-lapse has also managed to capture flashes of volcanic lightning.

The footage has been viewed more than one million times already.

Calbuco had been dormant for 54 years before erupting yesterday, causing authorities to declare a red alert and evacuate about 5000 people within a 20km radius.