Logo link to homepage

Report on Fuego (Guatemala) — 7 October-13 October 2020


Fuego

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 7 October-13 October 2020
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2020. Report on Fuego (Guatemala) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 7 October-13 October 2020. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (7 October-13 October 2020)

Fuego

Guatemala

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

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


INSIVUMEH reported that there were 5-19 explosions per hour recorded during 7-13 October at Fuego, generating ash plumes as high as 1.1 km above the crater rim that generally drifted as far as 20 km in multiple directions. Shock waves rattled buildings within 7-15 km of the summit. Incandescent material ejected 100-400 m high caused avalanches of blocks in the Ceniza (SSW), Seca (W), Trinidad (S), Taniluyá (SW), El Jute, Las Lajas, and Honda drainages; avalanches sometimes reached vegetated areas. Ashfall was reported daily in several areas downwind including Morelia (9 km SW), Panimaché I and II (8 km SW), Finca Palo Verde, La Rochela, Santa Sofía (12 km SW), and Sangre de Cristo (8 km WSW). On 9 October lahars descended multiple drainages on Fuego’s flanks. Lahars overflowed the Las Lajas drainage on the SE flank and deposited blocks and sediment on the RN 14 road, causing its closure.

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)