One of the largest historical eruptions of Pacaya, which occurred in 1775, is illustrated in this contemporary painting. The explosive eruption began on 1 July 1775 when several vents opened on the SW flank of Cerro Chino. A lava flow traveled to the south, eventually reaching 1,000 m elevation. The vents migrated towards the summit of Cerro Chino; one reference refers to activity at the summit 22 days into the eruption. Ashfall from this eruption was reported up to 200 km away.

Anonymous painting (courtesy of Archivo Real Academia de la Historia, Madrid).

This image is made available under the Creative Commons BY-NC 4.0 license terms.

Galleries: Volcano Art

Keywords: eruption | artwork

Pacaya