INSIVUMEH reported that on 28 March explosions from Santa María's Santiaguito lava dome complex produced ash plumes that rose 300-800 m above Caliente dome and drifted NNE, depositing fine ash in Quetzaltenango (10 km NNE). During 30-31 March and 4-5 April explosions produced ash plumes that rose 400-700 m above the dome and drifted S; ashfall was reported in nearby areas downwind. Avalanches descended the SW and E flanks.

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.

Source: Instituto Nacional de Sismologia, Vulcanologia, Meteorologia, e Hidrologia (INSIVUMEH)