Volcán de Fuego (; Spanish for "Volcano of Fire", often shortened to Fuego) or Chi Q'aq' (Kaqchikel for "where the fire is") is an active stratovolcano in Guatemala, on the borders of Chimaltenango, Escuintla and Sacatepéquez departments.
Part of the mountain range of the Sierra Madre, the volcano sits about west of Antigua, one of Guatemala's most famous cities and a tourist destination. It has erupted frequently, most recently in June and November 2018, 23 September 2021, 11 December 2022, 4 May 2023, and 4 June 2025.
Fuego is famous for being almost constantly active at a low level. Small explosions of gas and ash occur every 15 to 20 minutes, but larger eruptions are less frequent. Andesite and basalt lava types dominate.
The volcano is joined with Acatenango volcano to its north and collectively the complex is known as La Horqueta. Between Fuego and Acatenango is La Meseta, a scarp marking the remains of an older volcano that collapsed around 8,500 years ago. Fuego volcano started to grow after the collapse of La Meseta.
Early expeditions
thumb|Volcán de Fuego summit as seen from the saddle that separates it from [[Acatenango in 1899. Photographed by Alfred Percival Maudslay.]]
In 1881, French writer Eugenio Dussaussay climbed the volcano, then practically unexplored. First, he needed to ask for permission to climb from the Sacatepéquez governor, who gave him a letter for the Alotenango mayor asking for his assistance with guides to help the explorer and his companion, Tadeo Trabanino. They wanted to climb the central peak, unexplored at the time, but could not find a guide and had to climb to the active cone, which had a recent eruption in 1880.
British archeologist Alfred Percival Maudslay climbed the volcano on 7 January 1892. Here is how he described his expedition:
Notable eruptions
thumb|Volcán de Fuego erupting in 2013
{| class="wikitable sortable" width=60% style='font-size:0.9em' align=center
|- style="color:white;"
!style="background:#659ec7;" align=center width=5%|Date
!style="background:#659ec7;" align=center width=10%|Brief description
|-
!style="background:lemonchiffon;"|1581
|rowspan=5|Reported by historian Domingo Juarros. Caused damage in the surrounding area. It is possible the damage was related to earthquakes.
|-
!style="background:lemonchiffon;"|1880
|Reported by Eugenio Dussaussay.
|-
!style="background:lemonchiffon;"|1932
|Strong eruption that covered Antigua Guatemala in ash.
|-
!style="background:lemonchiffon;"|15–21 October 1974
|Strong eruption that caused heavy agricultural losses. Pyroclastic flows destroyed all vegetation in the surroundings of the active cone.
|-
!style="background:lemonchiffon;"|1–6 July 2004
|Small eruption preceded by internal explosions.
|-
!style="background:lemonchiffon;"|9 August 2007
|Small eruption of lava, rock and ash. Guatemala's volcanology service reported that seven families were evacuated from their homes near the volcano.
|-
!style="background:lemonchiffon;"|13 September 2012
|The volcano began ejecting lava and ash, prompting officials to begin "a massive evacuation of thousands of people" in five communities. More specifically, the evacuees, roughly 33,000 people, left nearly 17 villages near the volcano. It ejected lava and pyroclastic flows about down the slope of the volcano.
|-
!style="background:lemonchiffon;"|5 May 2017
|A eruption resulted in 300 nearby residents from Panimache and Sangre de Cristo being evacuated. Strong explosions, sometimes producing shock waves, generated dense ash plumes that rose 1.3 km above the crater and drifted more than 50 km S, SW, and W. Ashfall was reported in many areas downwind.
|-
!style="background:lemonchiffon;"|3 June 2018
|An eruption resulted in at least 159 deaths and at least 300 injuries, 256 missing persons and residents being evacuated, and the closure of La Aurora International Airport.
|-
!20 November 2018
| Eruption. Preventive evacuations of approximately 4,000 people from communities near the volcano.
|-
!23 September 2021
|Eruption producing ash column and generating pyroclastic flows that descended several ravines. No evacuations took place in this eruption.
|-
!7 March 2022
|Eruption producing ash plumes, fire fountains, and pyroclastic flows (up to 7 km) in several ravines. Around 500 people were evacuated from communities close to the volcano.
|-
!4 May 2023
|Eruption producing ash and pyroclastic flows. Evacuations of several communities by CONRED. The largest eruption of Fuego in its current period of activity happened on 3 June 2018, also the most powerful eruption of the volcano since 1974. Fuego generated large pyroclastic flows that gradually filled its drainage ravines (known locally as "barrancas"). The greatest impacts were on the east side of Fuego, where pyroclastic flows filled and eventually overcame the capacity of the Las Lajas ravine to descend on the nearby communities of San Miguel Los Lotes and El Rodeo in Escuintla and the private golf resort of La Reunión in Sacatepéquez. The flows that descended on Los Lotes buried the town in pyroclastic material and killed many of the residents, who had received limited warnings to evacuate. On 5 June, Associated Press reported that at least 99 people are dead and nearly 200 others were unaccounted for following the eruption. Ash fall extended as far as the capital, Guatemala City forcing the closure of La Aurora International Airport.
The military assisted in clearing ash off the runway. Rescue attempts were seriously hampered as routes into the affected regions were seriously damaged by the pyroclastic flows.
See also
- List of volcanoes in Guatemala
- List of volcanic eruptions by death toll
References
Bibliography
External links
- Map to Volcano
- Global Volcanism Program
- YouTube Video of the eruption on 3 June 2018 (Archived)