Report on Fuego (Guatemala) — 29 June-5 July 2022
Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 29 June-5 July 2022
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.
Please cite this report as:
Global Volcanism Program, 2022. Report on Fuego (Guatemala) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 29 June-5 July 2022. 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 4-10 explosions per hour were recorded at Fuego during 28 June-5 July, generating ash plumes that rose as high as 1.2 km above the crater rim. The ash plumes drifted 10-30 km W and SW, causing daily ashfall in areas downwind including Morelia (9 km SW), Panimaché I and II (8 km SW), Santa Sofía (12 km SW), El Porvenir (8 km ENE), Los Yucales (12 km SW), Sangre de Cristo (8 km WSW), and Finca Palo Verde. Daily shock waves rattled structures in communities around the volcano and occasional rumbling was heard. Block avalanches descended the Ceniza (SSW), Seca (W), Trinidad (S), Taniluyá (SW), Honda, and Las Lajas (SE) drainages. Explosions ejected incandescent material 100-300 m above the summit on most days. An effusive phase began during the evening of 2 July, and by 4 July a lava flow had traveled 1 km down in the Ceniza drainage. On 4 July pyroclastic flows traveled 6 km down the Ceniza drainage and generated ash plumes that rose 5 km.
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)