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Report on Sangay (Ecuador) — 24 March-30 March 2021


Sangay

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 24 March-30 March 2021
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2021. Report on Sangay (Ecuador) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 24 March-30 March 2021. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (24 March-30 March 2021)

Sangay

Ecuador

2.005°S, 78.341°W; summit elev. 5286 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


IG reported a high level of activity at Sangay during 24-30 March. Seismicity was characterized by 1-8 daily explosions, long-period earthquakes, and signals indicating emissions. Weather clouds and rain often prevented visual observations of the volcano, though based on the Washington VAAC reports, daily ash plumes were noted rising as high as 2.1 km above the summit and drifting in different directions. Images shared by the Red de Observadores Volcánicos (ROVE) (Network of Volcanic Observers) showed gas-and-steam emissions reaching 900-1,000 m above the crater drifting N on 26-27 March. A seismic station recorded occasional debris flows during 24-30 March. No ashfall was reported by residents.

Geological Summary. The isolated Sangay volcano, located east of the Andean crest, is the southernmost of Ecuador's volcanoes and its most active. The steep-sided, glacier-covered, dominantly andesitic volcano grew within the open calderas of two previous edifices which were destroyed by collapse to the east, producing large debris avalanches that reached the Amazonian lowlands. The modern edifice dates back to at least 14,000 years ago. It towers above the tropical jungle on the east side; on the other sides flat plains of ash have been eroded by heavy rains into steep-walled canyons up to 600 m deep. The earliest report of an eruption was in 1628. Almost continuous eruptions were reported from 1728 until 1916, and again from 1934 to the present. The almost constant activity has caused frequent changes to the morphology of the summit crater complex.

Source: Instituto Geofísico-Escuela Politécnica Nacional (IG-EPN)