INSIVUMEH reported that during 27-29 April occasional explosions at Pacaya’s Mackenney Crater ejected incandescent material as high as 250 m above the summit. On 27 April a lava flow emerged from a new fissure on the upper SE flank traveled 200 m. At around 0500 on 29 April the seismic network recorded signals indicating a change from mostly explosive to mostly effusive activity. At around 0645 a new fissure opened on the N flank, producing a lava flow that rapidly traveled N towards Cerro Chino and then turned S and spread W and SW. Explosive activity at the fissure was minor during 29-30 April. By 3 May the flow was almost 2.1 km long, and continued to advanced W and SW at least through 4 May.

Geological Summary. Eruptions from Pacaya are frequently visible from Guatemala City, the nation's capital. This complex basaltic volcano was constructed just outside the southern topographic rim of the 14 x 16 km Pleistocene Amatitlán caldera. A cluster of dacitic lava domes occupies the southern caldera floor. The post-caldera Pacaya massif includes the older Pacaya Viejo and Cerro Grande stratovolcanoes and the currently active Mackenney stratovolcano. Collapse of Pacaya Viejo between 600 and 1,500 years ago produced a debris-avalanche deposit that extends 25 km onto the Pacific coastal plain and left an arcuate scarp inside which the modern Pacaya volcano (Mackenney cone) grew. The NW-flank Cerro Chino crater was last active in the 19th century. During the past several decades, activity has consisted of frequent Strombolian eruptions with intermittent lava flow extrusion that has partially filled in the caldera moat and covered the flanks of Mackenney cone, punctuated by occasional larger explosive eruptions that partially destroy the summit.

Source: Instituto Nacional de Sismologia, Vulcanologia, Meteorologia, e Hidrologia (INSIVUMEH)