IG reported that a high level of activity continued to be recorded at Reventador during 11-17 August. Gas, steam, and ash emissions observed sometimes multiple times a day with the webcam or reported by the Washington VAAC rose as high as 1 km above the summit crater and drifted NW and W. Cloudy weather sometimes prevented views of the volcano. Incandescent blocks rolled 500-700 m down mainly the NE and E flanks during 12-13 and 15-16 August. A lava flow traveled 200 m down the NE flank on 13 August. The flow lengthened to 300 m by 15 August and remained active, though did not advance, through 18 August. A small pyroclastic flow descended the NE flank during 15-16 August.

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)