Santiago, May 1 (RHC-Agencies) -- The Chilean government on Thursday declared a state of "maximum alert" against the latest Calbuco volcanic eruption in the southern region of Los Lagos, adopting precautionary measures to face the emergency.

Chilean authorities have began evacuating over 5,000 people living within a 20 kilometer radius from the volcano.

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said that her government will work tirelessly to face the consequences of the latest eruption, the third in just eight days, which started at about 1:20 p.m. local time (1620 GMT) Thursday.

The volcano erupted on April 22 for the first time in 40 years, then erupted again later on April 23 and on April 30. As a consequence, rocks, ashes and smoke have been poured, reaching the Chilean capital city of Santiago and even as far as Argentina and Uruguay.