Report on Santa Ana (El Salvador) — 22 February-28 February 2006
Smithsonian / US Geological Survey Weekly Volcanic Activity Report,
22 February-28 February 2006
Managing Editor: Sally Kuhn Sennert
Please cite this report as:
Global Volcanism Program, 2006. Report on Santa Ana (El Salvador). In: Sennert, S K (ed.), Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 22 February-28 February 2006. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.
Santa Ana
El Salvador
13.853°N, 89.63°W; summit elev. 2381 m
All times are local (unless otherwise noted)
During 17-24 February, volcanic activity was at moderate levels at Santa Ana. Seismicity was relatively stable, and steam plumes rose to low levels above the volcano. The sulfur-dioxide flux was similar to measurements from previous weeks. The level of water in the lagoon within the crater decreased significantly. The Alert Level at Santa Ana 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.
