24 October: 8:00 pm: From San Felipe one could see a giant plume of black ash with numerous whirlwinds crossed by thousands of lightning bolts and curved lines of red light. All the area surrounding the volcano kept shaking and large explosions could be heard as far as 160 km (99 mi) away; strong winds carried ash and debris as far as 800 km (500 mi) away, or even more; a part of the cloud hovered on the north side of the cone for days, and a pitch black darkness ensued.