On 9 November a 15-m-wide, 1-m-deep lahar triggered by rainfall descended the Cabello de Ángel drainage, a tributary of the Nimá I river drainage on Santa María’s S flank, carrying tree trunks and blocks up to 1 m in diameter. The lahar had a minor sulfur odor. During 12-15 November explosions from the Santiaguito lava-dome complex generated ash plumes that rose to 800 m above the complex and drifted SW. Ashfall was reported in areas downwind, including Monte Claro, San José, and la Quinta.

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)