Report on Fuego (Guatemala) — 30 December-5 January 2021
Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 30 December-5 January 2021
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.
Please cite this report as:
Global Volcanism Program, 2020. Report on Fuego (Guatemala) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 30 December-5 January 2021. 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 3-15 explosions were recorded per hour during 29 December-5 January at Fuego, generating ash plumes as high as 1.1 km above the crater rim that drifted 7-30 km generally N, NW, W, SW, and S. Shock waves rattled buildings around the volcano and were detected as far as 25 km away. Block avalanches descended the Ceniza (SSW), Seca (W), Trinidad (S), Taniluyá (SW), El Jute, Las Lajas (SE), and Honda drainages, often reaching vegetated areas. Incandescent material was ejected 100-300 m above the summit almost daily. Ashfall was reported most days in several areas downwind including Morelia (9 km SW), Panimaché I and II (8 km SW), Finca Palo Verde, Santa Sofía (12 km SW), El Porvenir (8 km ENE), Yucales, La Soledad (11 km N), San Miguel Dueñas (10 km NE), and San Pedro Yepocapa (8 km NW).
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)