Observations of Santa Ana's crater on 28 December revealed that there were continuous emissions of steam and gas from the lagoon and fumaroles located within the crater. Gas rose 200-500 m above the crater (or 8,400-9,400) and drifted SW. On 30 December, seismicity at Santa Ana was above background levels. Small earthquakes occurred, which were interpreted as being associated with gas pulses. Gas emissions rose to low levels. The Alert Level remained at Red, the highest level, within a 5-km radius around the volcano's summit crater.

Geological Summary. Santa Ana (also known as Ilamatepec), is a massive, dominantly andesitic-to-trachyandesitic stratovolcano in El Salvador immediately W of Coatepeque Caldera. Collapse during the late Pleistocene produced a voluminous debris avalanche that swept into the Pacific Ocean, forming the Acajutla Peninsula. Reconstruction of the volcano subsequently filled most of the collapse scarp. The broad summit is cut by several crescentic craters, and a series of vents and cones have formed along a 20-km-long fissure system that extends from near the town of Chalchuapa NNW of the volcano to the San Marcelino and Cerro la Olla cinder cones on the SE flank. Small to moderate explosive eruptions from both summit and flank vents have been documented since the 16th century. The San Marcelino cinder cone on the SE flank produced a lava flow in 1722 that traveled 13 km E.

Source: Servicio Nacional de Estudios Territoriales (SNET)