“Fire Volcano” Eruption Continues to Impact Guatemala

Written by Meteo Expert Josef Lukas

The Guatemalan volcano known as “Volcán de Fuego” erupted Sunday morning sending rocks, ash, and volcanic gases high into the sky.

The eruption occurred about 25 miles (40 km) from Guatemala’s capital city and was detectable on NASA’s GOES-East satellite.

NASA GOES-East satellite imagery from the visible channel shows a darker plume over the mountain of Volcán de Fuego late Sunday morning. This darker plume represents ash being thrown high into the air from the volcanic eruption.

A satellite loop from the region clearly detects the eruption. Notice that a pink-looking dot becomes visible just prior to the dark ash plume.

Impacts

The village of San Miguel, which sits 6 miles (10 km) from the volcano, was hit especially hard with many buildings damaged or destroyed.

What makes volcanoes particularly dangerous are pyroclastic flows. These dangerous flows are a mix of hot rocks and volcanic gases that flow down a mountain at highway speeds, according to the Global Volcanism Program (GVP). Pyroclastic flow rates of up to 45 mph (20 m/s) have been observed in the past.

Tweets

Take a lot at the next few tweets depicting impacts and footage from the Fire Volcano.

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