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Report on Fuego (Guatemala) — 17 October-23 October 2012


Fuego

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 17 October-23 October 2012
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2012. Report on Fuego (Guatemala) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 17 October-23 October 2012. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (17 October-23 October 2012)

Fuego

Guatemala

14.473°N, 90.88°W; summit elev. 3763 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


INSIVUMEH reported that during 17-19 and 21-23 October white fumarolic plumes from Fuego drifted S and SW. Explosions produced ash plumes that rose 240-640 m above the lava dome and drifted 7 km SW, W, and NW. A lava flow traveled 400-800 m down the Ceniza drainage, producing incandescent block avalanches that reached vegetated areas.

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.

Source: Instituto Nacional de Sismologia, Vulcanologia, Meteorologia, e Hidrologia (INSIVUMEH)