A large pyroclastic flow travels down the flank of the Santiaguito lava dome on 19 July 1989. The pyroclastic flow and ash plume are seen here from just west of El Palmar (10 km S of the dome) about 5 minutes after the start of the explosion. The Santa María summit is visible to the right of the plume, which rose to 4 km above the vent. The pyroclastic flow traveled 5 km down the Río Nimá and was one of the larger events since the major 1929-34 activity.

Photo by Mike Conway, 1989 (Michigan Technological University).

This image is made available under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 license terms.

Galleries: Ballistic Ejecta | Pyroclastic Flows

Keywords: pyroclastic flow | ash plume | eruption | explosive eruption | pyroclastic density current (PDC) | ash | plume

Santa María