Increase in activity at Guatemalan Fuego volcano

Activity has increased at Guatemalan Fuego volcano over the last couple of days, INSIVUMEH reports. The number of explosions rose to 8 – 14 per hour and the strongest ones produce ash plumes rising more than 1 km above the summit, drifting west. 

Seismic data show an increase in tremor (internal vibration). INSIVUMEH thinks that a new lava flow and/or another paroxysmal phase at the volcano could occur soon.

The explosions at the volcano generated rumblings and shock waves that rattled ceilings and windows in villages Panimaché, Panimaché II, Morelia, Santa Sofia and others in the area at distances of more than 8 km. (VD)

Current seismic signal of Fuego – FG3 station. Image credit: INSIVUMEH

"Volcán Fuego, one of Central America's most active volcanoes, is one of three large stratovolcanoes overlooking Guatemala's former capital, Antigua. The scarp of an older edifice, Meseta, lies between 3763-m-high Fuego and its twin volcano to the north, Acatenango. Construction of Meseta volcano dates back to about 230,000 years and continued until the late Pleistocene or early Holocene.

Collapse of Meseta volcano 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 Acatenango. In contrast to the mostly andesitic Acatenango volcano, eruptions at Fuego have become more mafic with time, and most historical activity has produced basaltic rocks. Frequent vigorous historical eruptions have been recorded at Fuego since the onset of the Spanish era in 1524, and have produced major ashfalls, along with occasional pyroclastic flows and lava flows. (GVP)"

Featured image:Volcán Fuego, Guatemala. Image credit: GVP