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Report on Pacaya (Guatemala) — 22 April-28 April 2020


Pacaya

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 22 April-28 April 2020
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2020. Report on Pacaya (Guatemala) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 22 April-28 April 2020. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (22 April-28 April 2020)

Pacaya

Guatemala

14.382°N, 90.601°W; summit elev. 2569 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


INSIVUMEH reported that during 22-28 April Strombolian explosions at Pacaya’s Mackenney Crater ejected material as high as 100 m above the crater rim. Lava flows were active during 26-27 April, traveling about 150 m SW. Seismicity increased at 2140 on 27 April, and a lava flow on the SW flank lengthened to 400 m. Later investigation of a linear “fuming area” on the NE flank identified a forest fire as the cause.

Geological Summary. Eruptions from Pacaya are frequently visible from Guatemala City, the nation's capital. This complex basaltic volcano was constructed just outside the southern topographic rim of the 14 x 16 km Pleistocene Amatitlán caldera. A cluster of dacitic lava domes occupies the southern caldera floor. The post-caldera Pacaya massif includes the older Pacaya Viejo and Cerro Grande stratovolcanoes and the currently active Mackenney stratovolcano. Collapse of Pacaya Viejo between 600 and 1,500 years ago produced a debris-avalanche deposit that extends 25 km onto the Pacific coastal plain and left an arcuate scarp inside which the modern Pacaya volcano (Mackenney cone) grew. The NW-flank Cerro Chino crater was last active in the 19th century. During the past several decades, activity has consisted of frequent Strombolian eruptions with intermittent lava flow extrusion that has partially filled in the caldera moat and covered the flanks of Mackenney cone, punctuated by occasional larger explosive eruptions that partially destroy the summit.

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