The Fuego and Pacaya volcanoes, close to the capital and placed under surveillance at the beginning of the year, are recording a resurgence in their eruptive activity, the Guatemala Institute of Vulcanology warned on Saturday.
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The Fuego volcano, located 35 kilometers southwest of Guatemala City and which rises to 3,763 m in height, recorded weak to moderate explosions during the night and the morning, expelling columns of ash to more than 4 500 meters above sea level.
The Pacaya volcano, 2,552 meters high and located about 25 km south of Guatemala City, maintains a “high level of activity” and a lava flow winds its way down its flanks. Explosions expel columns of ash at an altitude of nearly 3,000 meters which fall on the neighboring villages.
A third volcano, the Santiaguito, 2,500 meters high and located about 230 km west of Guatemala, also came into activity.
These three volcanoes experience periods of alternating activity, such as in July and the end of December 2020 when they had been placed under reinforced surveillance.
In June 2018, a fiery cloud that rolled down the flanks of the Fuego volcano caused one of the worst disasters in Guatemala, killing 202 villagers, with 229 others missing.
In May 2010, a journalist reporter of images died on the flanks of the Pacaya volcano, hit by toxic gases during a report.