Volcano Eruption in Guatemala on Monday, Description A phase of increased lava flow activity occurred this morning from about 6 am local time, generating a series of pyroclastic flows that descended several ravines on different, but mostly the southwestern side of the volcano. The volcano has been in moderate effusive activity for at least the past two weeks, feeding relatively small lava flows on the upper steep slope. A sudden increase in effusion rate seems to have caused the destabilization of the lava flows, generating rockfalls that turned into pyroclastic flows. The lava flows have quickly increased from previously 200 m to about 2 km length. The surge of magma supply is also suggested by the appearance of strong tremor pulses the previous night. In the meanwhile, explosive (strombolian) activity from the summit vent has remained weak. An ash plume rising as a by-product of the pyroclastic flows was reported to about 12,000 ft (3.6 km) altitude.
Posted on: Mon, 02 Sep 2013 21:05:00 +0000
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