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Report on Fuego (Guatemala) — 4 January-10 January 2012


Fuego

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 4 January-10 January 2012
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2012. Report on Fuego (Guatemala) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 4 January-10 January 2012. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (4 January-10 January 2012)

Fuego

Guatemala

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

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


INSIVUMEH reported that on 6 and 10 January weak explosions from Fuego generated ash plumes that rose 300-600 m above the crater and drifted 10 km WNW and 15 km SW, respectively. Rumbling noises were detected several kilometers away. Incandescence emanated from the crater at night and avalanches descended the S, SW, and SE flanks. Based on information from satellite observations and INSIVUMEH, the Washington VAAC reported that an ash plume drifted SE and later dispersed on 3 January.

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.

Sources: Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC), Instituto Nacional de Sismologia, Vulcanologia, Meteorologia, e Hidrologia (INSIVUMEH)