Wednesday's activity was more subdued, but some tourists still fled the zone even as others were drawn to witness the 0.9-mile (1.5-km) long, 82-foot-wide (25-metre-wide) river of lava spilling down one of its slopes.

Columns of ash and smoke rose from the crater, some of them as high as 16,400 feet (5,000 metres) above the volcano that is located 435 miles (700 km) south of the capital Santiago.

"We cannot discount an event similar to Jan. 1 occurring again in coming days or weeks," said Jorge Clavero, a geologist with Chile's government Geological and Mining Service.

"Obviously in the event that the activity increases, authorities will need to take other measures, like evacuation ... but this has not occurred yet."

Llaima's volcanic activity in the past month has drawn some tourists, but it is mostly making nearby residents nervous and scaring away vacationers drawn to its hiking and biking trails, hot springs and clear rivers.

"I'm scared living here," Lidia Soto, who lives less than 6 miles (10 km) from the base of the volcano, told Reuters recently as Llaima rumbled.

The Jan. 1 eruption damaged local fish farms and bridges and burned some forest lands and forced one of the area's biggest tourist attractions, the Conguillio National Park, to close.