To Chile, where more than a thousand people have been evacuated from villages in the south of the country after a snowcapped volcano considered dormant for thousands of years erupted.

The government's Emergency Bureau said the 12-hundred meter Chaiten volcano erupted on Thursday night, some 12 hundred kilometres south of the capital, Santiago.

More than 60 small tremors were detected in the Los Lagos region and the bureau warned mild seismic activity could continue for the next several days.

Elina Hernandez is a local resident.

"It has been two days and two nights that we have not been able to sleep because of the temblors. We are very scared, very afraid. We have a lot of fear."

Chile's government declared a state of emergency, evacuating as many as 1,500 people from nearby villages and the town of Chaiten, just over 10 kilometres from the volcano.

Winds also carried ash over the Andes mountains to neighbouring Argentina.

Authorities declared a state of alert on two major highways as falling ash reduced visibility.