Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Welcome to Natural Hazards Forum. We hope you enjoy your visit.


You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.


Join our community!


If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
Guatemala volcano: Fuego eruption showers towns in ash
Topic Started: 9 Feb 2015, 12:27 AM (214 Views)
skibboy
Member Avatar

8 February 2015

Guatemala volcano: Fuego eruption showers towns in ash

Posted Image
Locals wore face masks to protect themselves

Scores of residents have been evacuated from their homes in southern Guatemala after the Fuego volcano erupted, the country's president says.

Clouds of black ash belched into the sky, while showers of rock and dust fell on to surrounding towns.

The international airport in the capital Guatemala City was closed as result of the explosion, President Otto Perez said.

It is expected to reopen later on Sunday, reports suggest.

The Fuego volcano is about 40km (25 miles) south-west of the capital and stands 3,763 metres (12,346 feet) above sea level.

In September 2012 the authorities evacuated thousands of people from the area after Fuego started spewing large volumes of lava and ash.

Experts said at the time it was the biggest eruption from the mountain since 1999.

Posted Image
The streets of Antigua Guatemala, a nearby town, were covered in dust

Posted Image
Volcanic ash coated cars

Posted Image
Vehicle owners had to wipe off the dust

Posted Image
Workers also had to clean up after the eruption

Posted Image
Face masks were worn by tourists

Posted Image
The Fuego volcano is about 40km south-west of the capital

Source: Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
skibboy
Member Avatar

15 May 2015

Guatemala's Fuego volcano becoming more active: officials

Posted Image
© AFP/File | Ash billowing from the Fuego volcano is seen from the Palin municipality, Escuintla departament, 40 km south of Guatemala City on February 13, 2015

GUATEMALA CITY (AFP) - Guatemala's Fuego volcano is becoming more active, belching out increasing amounts of smoke and ash, officials said on Friday.

Fearing a full-blown eruption of the volcano, located just 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the capital of Guatemala City, disaster officials warned that aircraft should exercise caution when flying over Fuego.

Conred, the national disaster coordination agency, said the volcano's eruptions could range in intensity from weak to moderate, and that columns of ash could reach 4,500 meters (15,000 feet) above sea level.

Authorities also warned that wind-borne ash particles could travel as far as 12 kilometers from the volcano, possibly causing respiratory and other health problems for some Guatemalans.

Fuego, which translates to "fire" in Spanish, measures more than 3,700 meters and is located in southwestern Guatemala on the borders of Chimaltenango, Escuintla and Sacatepequez departments.

Officials said for the moment there is no need to prepare for evacuations, but will continue to monitor the volcano since the situation could change quickly.

Fuego reawakened earlier this year, raining soot and ash on adjacent towns and forcing the temporary closure of a nearby airport.

Source: Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
skibboy
Member Avatar

28 June 2015

Guatemala volcano grows more active, spews ash

Posted Image
© AFP/File | Ash billowing from the Fuego volcano is seen 40 km south of Guatemala City on February 13, 2015

GUATEMALA CITY (AFP) - Guatemala's Fuego volcano shook from explosions Sunday and spewed ashes over nearby communities as it entered a more intense phase of activity, authorities said.

The state Institute of Vulcanology reported "four or five explosions an hour accompanied by ashes (rising) to an altitude of 4,600 meters (15,000 feet)."

The volcano is located 50 kilometers (30 miles) southeast of Guatemala City.

The sound of the explosions could be heard from a distance of 25 kilometers, and shock waves rattled roof-tops and windows in surrounding villages, it said.

Ash from the volcano was falling on villages on Fuego's western slopes.

In February, a strong eruption forced authorities to close the international airport because of the ashfall.

Source: Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
skibboy
Member Avatar

01 July 2015

Guatemala issues danger warning as volcano activity intensifies

GUATEMALA CITY (AFP) - Guatemalan authorities issued a danger warning Wednesday in response to intensifying activity in the country's Fuego Volcano.

The volcano, 50 kilometers (30 miles) southeast of Guatemala City, was belching "fiery clouds" over the course of the day, said David de Leon, a spokesman for the government's disaster response office.

The danger warning issued by the government was one step short of a declaration of emergency requiring evacuation of the communities around the volcano.

He said the mountain has been shaken by explosions that have rattled windows and rooftops and spewed columns of ash to some (5,000) 15,000 feet above sea level.

Guatemala's civil aviation authority was advised to take precautionary measures.

In February, a strong eruption forced authorities to close the international airport because of the falling ash.

Source: Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
skibboy
Member Avatar

07 October 2015

Guatemala volcano roars back to life

Posted Image
© AFP/File | In February, a powerful eruption at Fuego forced authorities to declare an alert and close the airport in the capital

GUATEMALA CITY (AFP) - A volcano near the Guatemalan capital roared back to life on Wednesday, spewing ash high into the air, disaster safety officials said.

The Fuego volcano, which is just 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Guatemala City and its population of one million people, coughed out gas and ash 4,800 meters (16,000 feet) above sea level.

Despite at least two lava flows, Alejandro Maldonado, secretary of the disaster reduction office CONRAD, said the so-called "Fire Volcano" was not yet sufficiently dangerous to justify the evacuation of nearby villages.

Experts say the volcano -- one of the most active in Central America -- may become increasingly violent in the coming hours and could affect air traffic.

In February, a powerful eruption at Fuego forced authorities to declare an alert and close the airport in the capital.

Source: Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
skibboy
Member Avatar

1 November 2015

Fuego Volcano eruption subsides in Guatemala

Posted Image
© AFP/File | The Fuego volcano, seen from San Juan Alotenango municipality, Sacatepequez department, about 65 km southwest of Guatemala City, erupts on November 10, 2015

GUATEMALA CITY (AFP) - A live volcano whose increased activity this week near Guatemala's capital -- causing ash columns in the sky, explosions and tremors -- sparked an alert subsided on Wednesday, emergency response officials said.

"The eruption of Fuego Volcano has diminished considerably... and this Wednesday it presented a relatively weak explosion considered within normal parameters," a spokesman for the Disaster Reduction National Coordination Committee, David de Leon, told reporters.

The 3,763-meter (12,346-foot) high volcano is located 50 kilometers (30 miles) southwest of Guatemala City.

On Tuesday, officials had declared an orange alert because of the increased activity noted since the day before, which showered fine ash over at least six villages and on the town of San Pedro Yepocapa, in the indigenous province of Chimaltenango. A nearby hotel was evacuated.

De Leon said authorities from the health and agriculture ministries were monitoring the area for possible respiratory problems and damage caused by the ash.

In February, the volcano erupted with such force and so much ash that Guatemala was forced to close the airport serving its capital.

Guatemala and neighboring countries lie on what is known as the Central American Volcanic Arc, a chain of hundreds of volcanoes that forms part of the Pacific "Rim of Fire."

Most are dormant, but some spectacular -- and dangerous -- eruptions do happen.

Source: Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
skibboy
Member Avatar

04 January 2016

Guatemala warily monitors erupting volcano

Posted Image
© AFP/File | The Fuego volcano, seen from San Juan Alotenango municipality, Sacatepequez departament, about 50 km southwest of Guatemala City, erupts on November 10, 2015

GUATEMALA CITY (AFP) - Guatemalan authorities Monday warily monitored the eruption of a volcano near its capital that spewed columns of ash up to seven kilometers (four miles) high.

Fuego Volcano, located just 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Guatemala City, rumbled back into higher intensity explosive activity on Sunday after months of fitfulness.

Guatemala's Volcanological Institute has advised aviation authorities to ensure flights do not come into contact with the ash cloud.

A spokesman for the country's disaster response agency, David de Leon, said the ash billowing from the 3,763-meter (12,346-foot) high volcano was fanning dozens of kilometers (miles) to the south and west.

Light tremors were also being felt in nearby villages.

He said no evacuation order had yet been given, but that civil protection officials were closely watching the eruption.

In February 2015, Fuego Volcano had a powerful eruption that prompted an alert and the closure of the capital's airport.

Source: Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
skibboy
Member Avatar

10 February 2016

Guatemala's Fire Volcano spews ash on nearby towns

Posted Image
© AFP/File | The Fuego Volcano, seen from Palin municipality, Escuintla departament, about 55 km southwest of Guatemala City on July 1, 2015

GUATEMALA CITY (AFP) - A restive volcano near Guatemala's capital spewed ash on nearby towns Wednesday, including on a colonial-era city popular with tourists, officials said.

The overnight eruption of Fuego Volcano -- whose name means "fire" in Spanish -- sent ash billowing up to five kilometers (three miles) into the sky and rivers of lava up to two kilometers long, according to Guatemala's Volcanology Institute.

Light tremors were also felt up to 25 kilometers away.

Strong gusts of wind could carry the clouds of "fine ash particles" to Guatemala City, 45 kilometers (30 miles) distant, said David de Leon, a spokesman for the government's disaster coordination service.

But thus far authorities were maintaining a yellow alert and were not ordering evacuations.

However schools in the vicinity were ordered closed.

De Leon said the ash had so far fallen on three towns -- including Antigua Guatemala, a small, UNESCO-listed city dating back nearly five centuries and which served as the capital until the 18th century.

Antigua's Spanish colonial history and many language schools are a draw for foreign tourists.

Fuego Volcano is 3,763 meters (12,346 feet) high and has been active for a long while.

In February 2015, it erupted powerfully, prompting an alert and the closure of Guatemala City's airport.

Source: Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
skibboy
Member Avatar

02 March 2016

Guatemala on alert as volcano spews ash over vast area

Posted Image
© AFP/File | Guatemala's Fuego volcano, seen from San Juan Alotenango municipality, erupts on November 10, 2015

GUATEMALA CITY (AFP) - Guatemalan authorities issued a warning Wednesday as the country's Fuego volcano, located near the capital, spewed ash into the air.

A spokesman for the country's disaster response agency, David de Leon, said the 3,763-meter (12,346-foot) high volcano had entered a new eruptive phase with increasing explosive activity, prompting an orange alert indicating danger.

The volcano sent ash plumes billowing more than 2,000 meters above the crater; they then spread as far as 40 kilometers to the west, southwest and north, the spokesman said.

He added that rural communities surrounding the volcano, as well as the urban municipalities of San Pedro Yepocapa and Santa Lucia Cotzumalguapa de Escuintla, reported fine ash particles falling from the sky.

De Leon said his agency was in touch with local authorities and that so far no evacuations had been deemed necessary.

The Fuego volcano is located some 45 kilometers (30 miles) southwest of the capital Guatemala City.

Guatemala's Vulcanology Institute has instructed civil protection authorities to step up their vigilance and recommended precautionary measures for air traffic.

The Fuego volcano has long been active.

A powerful eruption in February 2015 prompted an alert and the closure of Guatemala City's airport.

Source: Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
« Previous Topic · Volcanic Eruptions · Next Topic »
Add Reply

Skin by OverTheBelow