Based on analysis of satellite imagery, the Washington VAAC reported that on 12 February ash puffs from Santa María's Santiaguito lava dome complex drifted WSW and W. On 16 and 17 February, INSIVUMEH reported that explosions produced ash plumes that rose to altitudes of 2.7-3.3 km (8,900-10,800 ft) a.s.l. and drifted SW. Small pyroclastic flows on 16 February descended the SE flank and reached the Nima I river. On 17 February, incandescent avalanches were noted and fumarolic plumes drifted SW.

Geological Summary. Symmetrical, forest-covered Santa María volcano is part of a chain of large stratovolcanoes that rise above the Pacific coastal plain of Guatemala. The sharp-topped, conical profile is cut on the SW flank by a 1.5-km-wide crater. The oval-shaped crater extends from just below the summit to the lower flank, and was formed during a catastrophic eruption in 1902. The renowned Plinian eruption of 1902 that devastated much of SW Guatemala followed a long repose period after construction of the large basaltic-andesite stratovolcano. The massive 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 vents, with activity progressing E towards the most recent, Caliente. Dome growth has been accompanied by almost continuous minor explosions, with periodic lava extrusion, larger explosions, pyroclastic flows, and lahars.

Sources: Instituto Nacional de Sismologia, Vulcanologia, Meteorologia, e Hidrologia (INSIVUMEH), Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC)