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Report on Fuego (Guatemala) — 12 December-18 December 2012


Fuego

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 12 December-18 December 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, 12 December-18 December 2012. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (12 December-18 December 2012)

Fuego

Guatemala

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

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


INSIVUMEH reported that during 12-14 December explosions from Fuego produced ash plumes that rose about 140-190 m and drifted SW. Incandescent lava flows traveled 150-200 m down the flanks. During 15-16 December lava flows traveled 200 m SW down the Taniluya drainage, producing incandescent block avalanches from the lava-flow fronts. Explosions during 17-18 December produced ash plumes that rose 400 m and drifted 7 km W and SW. Incandescence emanated 150 m above the crater. Blocks from lava-flow fronts in the Taniluya drainage rolled down the flanks, reaching vegetated areas.

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)