But the eruption continued and experts said it would be weeks and possibly even months before residents, who had to leave their belongings, pets and lives behind, could return.
Veterinarians ventured to Chaiten on Wednesday to rescue hungry, thirsty and scared pets, transporting some of them back to Puerto Montt.
Evacuee Maria Angelica Hermosilla said she would go back the first chance she got. "There is nothing like Chaiten," the 42-year-old said. "Everyone knows each other, we are like a big family, there is no violence, no muggings."
The village of Chaiten is nestled by a fjord some 760 miles (1,220 km) south of the Chilean capital Santiago and is a magnet for adventure tourism, fishing and trekking.
Sparsely populated Patagonia is the southernmost swathe of Latin America that cuts across Chile and Argentina and is home to towering snow-capped peaks, some of them volcanoes, glaciers and fjords.
National Emergency Office official Rodrigo Rojas said winds were pushing the vast ash cloud into Argentina, but that it was no longer soaring miles into the air as it did when the eruption started on Friday.
President Michelle Bachelet said it was the first time that Chile has had to evacuate entire towns. The last residents of Futaleufu further east were also being evacuated on Wednesday.
Luis Lara, a government geologist, said he did not expect a catastrophic collapse of the volcano, and said any eventual lava flow would not reach the town. But a cloud of dense, very hot material could coat the surrounding area.
"The activity could continue for quite some time," he said. "It could be weeks, months. It could even be years, but not with the same characteristics - with ups and downs."
Neighboring Argentina canceled flights to Patagonia because of the ash cloud.
In the town of Esquel, one of the worst affected on the Argentine side of the border, the flurry of ash ceased on Wednesday and schools reopened.
But ash continued to fall nearby and officials urged residents to wear facemasks and not to drink from mountain streams - a common practice in the area.
Chile is home to 2,000 volcanoes, 500 of which experts say are potentially active.
