The IG reported that scientists conducting an overflight of Reventador on 14 July noted that the lava dome at the top of the 2008 cone continued to grow, filling the crater. The dome had reached the same height as the highest part of the crater rim, formed during 2002. Intense fumarolic activity produced continuous plumes. The dome was thought to have formed during 2011, growing at a rapid rate and producing high temperatures. IG also noted that seismicity had increased starting in May but was more pronounced during the previous few weeks. During 3-9 August cloud cover prevented observations of the lava dome, but the seismic network detected long-period and explosion-type earthquakes.

Geological Summary. Volcán El Reventador is the most frequently active of a chain of Ecuadorian volcanoes in the Cordillera Real, well east of the principal volcanic axis. The forested, dominantly andesitic stratovolcano has 4-km-wide avalanche scarp open to the E formed by edifice collapse. A young, unvegetated, cone rises from the amphitheater floor to a height comparable to the rim. It has been the source of numerous lava flows as well as explosive eruptions visible from Quito, about 90 km ESE. Frequent lahars in this region of heavy rainfall have left extensive deposits on the scarp slope. The largest recorded eruption took place in 2002, producing a 17-km-high eruption column, pyroclastic flows that traveled up to 8 km, and lava flows from summit and flank vents.

Source: Instituto Geofísico-Escuela Politécnica Nacional (IG-EPN)