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| Santiaguito volcano in Guatemala. Twitter |
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— Canal Antigua (@CanalAntigua) February 7, 2016
GOES imagery of the Santiaguito volcano eruption in Guatemala on 2/5. More info on GOES @ https://t.co/ucBQB5b0ij pic.twitter.com/iGr63tErf1— NOAA Satellites (@NOAASatellites) February 5, 2016
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| Yesterday's eruption of Santiaguito (webcam image: INSIVUMEH, annotated by Blog Culture Volcan) |
Several block lava flows are traveling down from the dome, and generate glowing avalanches. Frequent explosions produce ash plumes rising 800-900 m above the lava dome. An explosion on 26 March produced pyroclastic flow on the western flank of the cone.
Satellite images detected several plumes extending up to 33 km in south-westerly directions. Ash fall occurred in up to about 10 km distances in areas to the south at the Observatory Vulcanológico de Santiaguito (OVSAN), and to the SW at the El Faro, La Florida, and Patzulin ranches (SW), as well as in the village of Santa María de Jesús (SE). - Volcano Discovery.
INSIVUMEH reports moderate explosions about every 15 minutes that eject plumes of gray ash tot 600 and 800 meters above the crater, and producing an ash plume drifting to the west and SW until dissipating at about 15 km distance.
Light ash falls from these eruptions frequently occur in the villages San Marcos, Buena Vista and Palajunoj and the El Faro, Florida, and Monte Claro Fincas.
Crater glow at the summit of the lava dome is well visible at night, and a blocky lava flow with constant avalanches of blocks rolling down to tits base continues to be active, raising secondary ash plumes. The monitoring network records the explosions on seismic signals. - Volcano Discovery.
Guatemalan departments of Quetzaltenango and Retalhuleu were declared this Friday in yellow alert due to the increased activity of the volcano Santiaguito. According to the National Institute for Seismology, Vulcanology, Meteorology and Hydrology of Guatemala (Insivumeh), the increase is manifested in the number of explosions per hour. Such explosions generate weak and moderate echoes, that could be heard 10 kilometers away, and constant avalanches of rocks in the southwestern and eastern sides of the volcano. The Insivumeh uninterruptedly monitors the volcano and advises the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to take precautions with air traffic in a radius of 15 kilometers due to the ash emissions. - Inside Costa Rica.The Smithsonian / USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report provides the following geologic summary for the volcano: Symmetrical, forest-covered Santa María volcano is one of a chain of large stratovolcanoes that rises dramatically above the Pacific coastal plain of Guatemala. The stratovolcano has a sharp-topped, conical profile that is cut on the SW flank by a large, 1-km-wide crater, which formed during a catastrophic eruption in 1902 and extends from just below the summit to the lower flank. The renowned Plinian eruption of 1902 followed a long repose period and devastated much of SW Guatemala. The large dacitic Santiaguito lava-dome complex has been growing at the base of the 1902 crater since 1922. Compound dome growth at Santiaguito has occurred episodically from four westward-younging vents, accompanied by almost continuous minor explosions and periodic lava extrusion, larger explosions, pyroclastic flows, and lahars.
