During 1-7 April IG reported moderate seismic activity including explosions, long-period earthquakes, harmonic tremor, and occasional tremor at Reventador; cloud cover often prevented visual observations. During 1-2 and 6 April incandescence from the crater and a lava flow on the SW flank were visible with the aid of an infrared camera. On 3 April a steam plume rose 600 m above the crater and drifted NW. The next day a steam-and-ash plume rose 500 m and drifted W. On 6 April a steam-and-ash plume rose 1 km and drifted NW.

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)