INSIVUMEH and CONRED reported that 2-7 weak explosions per hour at Fuego generated ash plumes that rose as high as 650 m above the crater rim and drifted W and SW during 27-29 June and 1-3 July. Ashfall was reported on 27 June in areas downwind including Sangre de Cristo and Yepocapa. Avalanches of material descended the S, SW, and W flanks (Santa Teresa, Las Lajas, El Jute, and Cenizas drainages). According to CONRED, as of 3 July, the number of people confirmed to have died due to the 3 June pyroclastic flows was 113, and 197 remained missing. In addition, 12,823 remained evacuated.

Geological Summary. Volcán Fuego, one of Central America's most active volcanoes, is also one of three large stratovolcanoes overlooking Guatemala's former capital, Antigua. The scarp of an older edifice, Meseta, lies between Fuego and Acatenango to the north. Construction of Meseta dates back to about 230,000 years and continued until the late Pleistocene or early Holocene. Collapse of Meseta may have produced the massive Escuintla debris-avalanche deposit, which extends about 50 km onto the Pacific coastal plain. Growth of the modern Fuego volcano followed, continuing the southward migration of volcanism that began at the mostly andesitic Acatenango. Eruptions at Fuego have become more mafic with time, and most historical activity has produced basaltic rocks. Frequent vigorous historical eruptions have been recorded since the onset of the Spanish era in 1524, and have produced major ashfalls, along with occasional pyroclastic flows and lava flows.

Sources: Instituto Nacional de Sismologia, Vulcanologia, Meteorologia, e Hidrologia (INSIVUMEH), Coordinadora Nacional para la Reducción de Desastres (CONRED)