Report on Fuego (Guatemala) — 23 August-29 August 2023
Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 23 August-29 August 2023
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.
Please cite this report as:
Global Volcanism Program, 2023. Report on Fuego (Guatemala) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 23 August-29 August 2023. 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 3-11 explosions per hour were recorded at Fuego during 9-15 August, generating ash-and-gas plumes that rose as high as 1.1 km above the crater rim. The ash plumes drifted as far as 30 km SW during 23-24 August, causing ashfall in areas downwind including Morelia (9 km SW), Panimaché I and II (8 km SW), and Palo Verde (10 km WSW). During 25-29 August the plumes drifted E, NE, and N, causing ashfall in multiple areas including Alotenango (8 km ENE), La Reunion, El Porvenir (8 km ENE), Antigua Guatemala (18 km NE), San Miguel Dueñas (10 km NE), and Ciudad Vieja (13.5 km NE). Daily shock waves rattled structures in communities around the volcano and rumbling was sometimes heard. Daily block avalanches descended the Ceniza (SSW), Seca (W), Trinidad (S), Taniluyá (SW), Honda, Las Lajas (SE), and El Jute (ESE) drainages. During 23-25 August explosions ejected incandescent material as high as 200 m above the summit. Lahars descended the Ceniza drainage on 29 August, transporting volcanic blocks up to 1.5 m in diameter, branches, and tree trunks.
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)