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Report on Fuego (Guatemala) — 16 June-22 June 2021


Fuego

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 16 June-22 June 2021
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2021. Report on Fuego (Guatemala) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 16 June-22 June 2021. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (16 June-22 June 2021)

Fuego

Guatemala

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

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


INSIVUMEH reported that on 15 June lahars descended the Las Lajas and El Jute drainages on Fuego’s SE flank, carrying tree branches and blocks as large as 1.5 m in diameter. During 16-22 June there were 4-15 explosions per hour, generating ash plumes as high as 1.1 km above the crater rim. Daily shock waves rattled buildings in towns around the volcano, and within 15 km of the S and SW flanks during 20-21 June. Ashfall was reported almost daily in several areas downwind, including Panimaché I and II (8 km SW), Santa Sofía (12 km SW), Sangre de Cristo (8 km WSW), and San Pedro Yepocapa (8 km NW). Block avalanches descended the Ceniza (SSW), Seca (W), Trinidad (S), Taniluyá (SW), Las Lajas (SE), and Honda drainages, often reaching vegetated areas. Explosions ejected incandescent material 100-350 m above the summit each day.

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)