On 24 June IG stated that surficial activity at Reventador had remained high during recent months. While conducting routine maintenance work of the monitoring network on 8 June, IG staff noted continuous gas-and-water-vapor emissions rising 800 m above the crater and drifting NW. Explosions produced sounds similar to gunshots and generated ash plumes that rose 2 km. Deposits from pyroclastic flows and ejected incandescent blocks were evident on all flanks, but particularly the N and S flanks.

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)