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Report on Reventador (Ecuador) — 27 May-2 June 2015


Reventador

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 27 May-2 June 2015
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2015. Report on Reventador (Ecuador) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 27 May-2 June 2015. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (27 May-2 June 2015)

Reventador

Ecuador

0.077°S, 77.656°W; summit elev. 3562 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


During 27 May-2 June IG reported moderate seismic activity including explosions, long-period earthquakes, harmonic tremor, and signals indicating emissions at Reventador; cloud cover sometimes prevented visual observations. On 27 May a steam-and-ash plume rose 1 km and drifted SW. The next day frequent vapor emissions with a slight amounts of ash rose 800 m above the crater and mainly drifted NW. During 29-30 May steam plumes with minor amounts of ash rose 1 km and drifted SW and NW. On 2 June an ash plume rose 300 m and drifted NW.

Geological Summary. Volcán El Reventador is the most frequently active of a chain of Ecuadorian volcanoes in the Cordillera Real, well east of the principal volcanic axis. The forested, dominantly andesitic stratovolcano has 4-km-wide avalanche scarp open to the E formed by edifice collapse. A young, unvegetated, cone rises from the amphitheater floor to a height comparable to the rim. It has been the source of numerous lava flows as well as explosive eruptions visible from Quito, about 90 km ESE. Frequent lahars in this region of heavy rainfall have left extensive deposits on the scarp slope. The largest recorded eruption took place in 2002, producing a 17-km-high eruption column, pyroclastic flows that traveled up to 8 km, and lava flows from summit and flank vents.

Source: Instituto Geofísico-Escuela Politécnica Nacional (IG-EPN)