No Evacuation Issued as Fuego Volcano Eruption Persists with Active Lava Flows, Ash Fall, Crater Avalanches — Guatemala

(Photo : Johan Ordonez / Getty Images)
Fuego Volcano Eruption. Dec 11, 2022

Despite the Fuego Volcano eruption in Guatemala continuing with active lava flows, ash fall, shockwaves, and crater avalanches, officials declared that there is no need for evacuation.

On December 11, the Fuego volcano in Guatemala started erupting, adding another volcano to the list of ones that are currently erupting around the world.

The weak explosions that have occurred during the eruptions of Volcan de Fuego have sent lava flying over 1,600 feet above the crater and created a tall cloud of ash above the mountain.

The Guatemalan Institute of Volcanology (INSIVUMEH) said in a statement that The activity of the Fuego volcano increased, and it has recently entered an eruption phase. The eruption is primarily effusive and is accompanied by incandescent pulses of lava.

Fuego Vulcano

Chi Q'aq', also known as Fuego, has a commanding view of Antigua from a distance of about ten miles. The mountain's height is approximately 12,000 feet. It has erupted frequently in 2018, in September 2021, and this year. It is one of the most active volcanoes in the area.

When the volcano is not actively erupting, it typically emits small plumes of ash and gas every 15 to 20 minutes.

The National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction (Conred), the organization in charge of civil protection, released a statement saying that no evacuation plans have been implemented.

Garcia said that they would keep "monitoring" the volcano's activity as well as the potential for ash landslides and lava flows to flow down the mountain's slope and into settlements, Newsweek reports.

Latest INSIVUMEH Bulletin

The Smithsonian Institute data shows that between November 29 and December 6, 4 to 12 eruptions per hour were noted at Fuego, causing ash plumes to rise, reaching 1.1 km above the rim of the crater.

Explosions. According to December 12 updates from Kevin Carlos Chun Quinillo, a geologist from INSIVUMEH, at a height of 15,091 feet, the Fuego Volcano Observatory (OVFGO) reports the presence of a weak white fumarole that extends in a west-southwest direction. Three to seven weak, moderate, and occasionally strong explosions have been occurring every hour. These explosions produce a column of ash that rises to an altitude of 15,419 to 15,748 feet above sea level and disperses roughly 20 km to the west and southwest due to the wind.

Avalanches. At a height of between 100 and 200 meters above the crater, incandescent pulses are seen during the night and early hours of the morning. The explosions cause weak to moderate avalanches to descend from the crater's edge toward the ravines of Ceniza, Seca, Taniluya, Santa Teresa, Las Lajas, and Trinidad.

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Shockwaves and Ash Falls. The houses close to the volcano vibrate as a result of minor and moderate rumbles that are generated. Ash falls were observed in the communities of Finca Palo Verde, Panimaché I and II, and others to the southwest and west of the Fuego volcano as a result of the explosions. There have been reports of weak sounds lasting one to four minutes that sound like train locomotives. The lifting of ash curtains on the volcano's slopes is encouraged due to the wind's speed.

Active Lava Flow. There is still active lava flow towards Barranca Ceniza. High-temperature material left behind by the cessation of pyroclastic flows from the latest eruption has persisted, INSIVUMEH reports.

Pyroclastic Flows

David Rothery, an Open University (Britain) professor of planetary geosciences, told Newsweek that Because it can be remobilized by rainfall and transform into mudflows, or lahars (Indonesian term), which can destroy homes and bridges, the ash left behind by pyroclastic flows and the ash that has fallen from the sky are still dangerous even after the eruption has ended.

According to official estimates, an avalanche of rock and ash from the Fuego eruption in June 2018 swept through the neighborhood of Alotenango (Sacatepéquez), part of a road in San Miguel Los Lotes (Escuintla), and nearly 200 people were killed.

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