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Report on Santa Maria (Guatemala) — 20 November-26 November 2019


Santa Maria

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 20 November-26 November 2019
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2019. Report on Santa Maria (Guatemala) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 20 November-26 November 2019. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (20 November-26 November 2019)

Santa Maria

Guatemala

14.757°N, 91.552°W; summit elev. 3745 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


INSIVUMEH reported that on most days during 20-26 November there were 1-3 explosions per hour detected at Santa María's Santiaguito lava-dome complex. Ash plumes rose 600-900 m above the complex and drifted SW and W. Avalanches of material descended the E, S, and SW flanks. Ash sometimes fell locally, and likely in finca El Faro, Santa Maria, and Viejo Palmar during 20-21 and 24-25 November.

Geological Summary. Symmetrical, forest-covered Santa María volcano is part of a chain of large stratovolcanoes that rise above the Pacific coastal plain of Guatemala. The sharp-topped, conical profile is cut on the SW flank by a 1.5-km-wide crater. The oval-shaped crater extends from just below the summit to the lower flank, and was formed during a catastrophic eruption in 1902. The renowned Plinian eruption of 1902 that devastated much of SW Guatemala followed a long repose period after construction of the large basaltic-andesite stratovolcano. The massive dacitic Santiaguito lava-dome complex has been growing at the base of the 1902 crater since 1922. Compound dome growth at Santiaguito has occurred episodically from four vents, with activity progressing E towards the most recent, Caliente. Dome growth has been accompanied by almost continuous minor explosions, with periodic lava extrusion, larger explosions, pyroclastic flows, and lahars.

Source: Instituto Nacional de Sismologia, Vulcanologia, Meteorologia, e Hidrologia (INSIVUMEH)