INSIVUMEH reported that 7-18 explosions per hour were detected at Fuego during 8-12 November. Ash plumes from the explosions rose as high as 1.1 km above the crater rim and drifted 8-20 km W and SW. Ash fell in areas downwind including Morelia (9 km SW), Santa Sofia (12 km SW), Sangre de Cristo (8 km WSW), Panimaché (8 km SW), El Porvenir, Finca Palo Verde, and San Pedro Yepocapa (8 km NW). Incandescent material was ejected 150-300 m high and caused avalanches that traveled far, reaching vegetated areas in multiple drainages. Lava flows as long as 1.2 km advanced in the Ceniza (SSW) drainage, though lava-flow activity greatly decreased by 12 November.

Geological Summary. Volcán Fuego, one of Central America's most active volcanoes, is also one of three large stratovolcanoes overlooking Guatemala's former capital, Antigua. The scarp of an older edifice, Meseta, lies between Fuego and Acatenango to the north. Construction of Meseta dates back to about 230,000 years and continued until the late Pleistocene or early Holocene. Collapse of Meseta may have produced the massive Escuintla debris-avalanche deposit, which extends about 50 km onto the Pacific coastal plain. Growth of the modern Fuego volcano followed, continuing the southward migration of volcanism that began at the mostly andesitic Acatenango. Eruptions at Fuego have become more mafic with time, and most historical activity has produced basaltic rocks. Frequent vigorous historical eruptions have been recorded since the onset of the Spanish era in 1524, and have produced major ashfalls, along with occasional pyroclastic flows and lava flows.

Sources: Instituto Nacional de Sismologia, Vulcanologia, Meteorologia, e Hidrologia (INSIVUMEH), Coordinadora Nacional para la Reducción de Desastres (CONRED)