Report on Fuego (Guatemala) — 8 August-14 August 2012
Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 8 August-14 August 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, 8 August-14 August 2012. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.
Fuego
Guatemala
14.473°N, 90.88°W; summit elev. 3763 m
All times are local (unless otherwise noted)
INSIVUMEH reported that during 9-10 and 13-14 August explosions from Fuego produced ash plumes that rose 300-400 m above the crater and drifted NW and W. Degassing sounds were reported, and diffuse white plumes rose 100-150 m and drifted NE and NW. Lava flows traveled 200-250 m down the Taniluyá drainage (SW), generating block avalanches that reached vegetated areas. On 10 August lahars 25 m wide traveled SE down the Las Lajas and El Júte drainages carrying blocks 1-2 m in diameter. Explosions during 13-14 August ejected incandescent tephra 100 m above the crater.
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)