2018 Volcán de Fuego eruption

Date: June 3, 2018

Place: Guatemala

Result: The volcano erupted with little warning and covered several nearby towns and villages in scalding-hot clouds of ash, gas, and rock. About 200 people died in the eruption. Several hundred more remained missing in the months afterward.

Overview

Guatemala’s Volcán de Fuego—“Volcano of Fire” in English—is the most active volcano in Central America, having erupted more than sixty times since 1524. The volcano is an example of a stratovolcano, a cone-shaped volcano created from hardened layers of lava, ash, and other materials built up from past eruptions. The magma, or molten rock, beneath a stratovolcano forms a thicker and more slow-moving substance that can trap gases and superheated air, building up immense pressures. When stratovolcanoes erupt, this pressure is suddenly released in a violent explosion that can produce deadly, fast-moving columns of ash, lava, and mud.

Volcán de Fuego is a 12,346-foot (3,763-meter) tall volcano located in southern Guatemala. Smaller eruptions of gases occur nearly constantly at Volcán de Fuego, though larger eruptions happen less often. Before 2018, the last large-scale eruption occurred in 1974 when the volcano shot clouds of ash into the air for ten days. No one was killed in the eruption, but much of the surrounding vegetation was destroyed and the region’s agricultural capability was severely damaged.

Volcán de Fuego began another active eruption cycle in 2002. During the next sixteen years, several eruptions impacted the area around the volcano. In mid-January 2018, a series of several moderate eruptions produced plumes of ash and steam that rose about 2.6 miles (4.2 kilometers) above the mountain. A larger eruption on January 31, 2018, sent a cloud of ash about 4.4 miles (7 kilometers) into the sky and rained ash over a 37.3-mile (60-kilometer) area southwest of the mountain. Areas northeast of the volcano were also impacted by falling ash.

The residents of surrounding villages and towns had grown used to Volcán de Fuego’s eruption patterns by early June 2018. Many were unprepared, however, when a large explosion rocked the mountain early in the morning of June 3. The eruption produced an ash cloud about 9.4 miles (15.2 kilometers) high and sent deadly clouds of hot ash, rock, and gases hurtling down ravines on the mountainside. These clouds, known as pyroclastic flows, swept into some nearby villages along the volcano’s flank. The towns of San Miguel Los Lotes and El Rodeo were especially hard hit.

The flows engulfed the communities and covered homes and vehicles with hot ash and debris. Many of those killed by the pyroclastic flows were found in or near their homes, suggesting the fast-moving clouds were upon them before they had time to escape. The volcano continued to erupt throughout much of the day, sending additional pyroclastic flows down the mountain’s slopes. By evening, the number of pyroclastic flows had lessened, but continued volcanic activity over the next two days produced additional clouds of ash and temporarily delayed rescue efforts.

The ash and debris produced by the eruption led to the formation of dangerous volcanic mudflows known as lahars. Lahars are fast-moving rivers of ash, mud, rocks, and water that can solidify almost like concrete as they dry. Several lahars were produced by the June 3 eruption, and dozens more followed after the region experienced heavy rainfall on June 6. Some lahars were up to 130 feet (40 meters) wide and almost 10 feet (3 meters) deep. Some mudflows carried boulders as large as 10 feet wide.

The explosive phase of the eruption subsided by mid-June, but the mountain continued to produce ash plumes and avalanches for weeks. The volcano resumed spewing steam and ash in October 2018, and erupted again a month later. More than 4,000 people were evacuated from the area as a precaution. In late March and early April 2019, the volcano produced a series of large ash plumes and earthquakes that rattled buildings in nearby villages. Several warning bulletins were issued by Guatemalan authorities in response to the volcanic activity.

Impact

The official death toll as of April 2019 lists 194 confirmed fatalities and 234 people missing and presumed dead. However, local villagers claimed that more than 2,000 people could still be buried under the mud and ash. Because several villages and towns are located on the foothills of Volcán de Fuego, the fast-moving pyroclastic flows and lahars made it difficult for people to escape. The majority of those killed or reported missing were in the towns of San Miguel Los Lotes and El Rodeo. The eruption was the deadliest volcanic eruption in Guatemala since 1929. That year, the Santa Maria volcano in southwestern Guatemala erupted, killing about 5,000 people.

Within hours of the 2018 Volcán de Fuego eruption, rescue workers, firefighters, and members of the Guatemalan military streamed into the affected region. The United Nations dispatched a humanitarian mission to the area and allocated about $300,000 to relief efforts. States of emergency were declared in the provinces of Escuintla, Chimaltenango, and Sacatepéquez as more than 3,200 people were evacuated immediately and another 1,689 were placed in shelters. By July, the number of people evacuated had risen to 12,823 with 2,878 placed in shelters.

Guatemalan officials estimated about 1.7 million people were affected by the June 2018 eruption of Volcán de Fuego. Ash fell more than 19 miles (30 kilometers) away, reaching Guatemala City, the nation’s capital and home to 2.9 million people. The city’s La Aurora International Airport was closed for two days after the eruption. The eruption also sent a large cloud of poisonous sulfur dioxide gas about 5 miles (8 kilometers) into the atmosphere. The gas was detected by satellites designed to monitor the planet’s atmosphere. Scientists say the emission was the largest ever detected from Volcán de Fuego since such satellites were first launched in the 1960s.

Bibliography

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