INSIVUMEH reported that during 5-6 March explosions from Caliente cone, part of Santa María's Santiaguito lava-dome complex, generated ash plumes that rose 500 m and caused ashfall in Monte Claro (S). Lava-dome incandescence was observed at night. Explosions during 7-8 March generated ash plumes that rose 500 m and drifted W. During 9-10 March explosions generated ash plumes that rose 500 m and drifted S and SW, causing ashfall in San Marcos (10 km SW), Palajunoj (18 km SSW), Las Marías, and San Felipe Retalhuleu (27 km SSW). Avalanches descended the E flank of Caliente cone.

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)