While the death toll after Fuego’s eruption has now climbed to 99 – and there are still lots of houses buried in ash – the Pacaya volcano ejected several lava flows from its summit. Although authorities say the population is not at risk, there is always a possibility -even tiny – of great eruption. It would be nice to determine if there is a relationship between the two eruptions.
Another of Guatemala’s active volcanoes, the Pacaya Volcano, has started erupting with explosions and lava flows, stretching over 50 meters and 20 meters wide on the north flank of the volcano, on June 6, 2018. Of course, this eruption is not as exceptional as the explosion of the Volcán de Fuego a few days, which left 99 dead… and still counting.
Insivumeh issued a bulletin in which it clarified that this activity is characteristic of the Pacaya, located in the department of Escuintla, about 30 kilometers south of the capital, “and has no relation nor is it a consequence of the recent eruption of the Volcán de Fuego. The seismic record does not show an increase in activity outside the limits. Explosions ejected incandescent material about 50 meters in the air and degassing formed a plume that reached no more than 200 meters above the summit.”
The Pacaya Volcano culminates at 2,552 meters (7388 feet) and is a tourist attraction due to its constant activity. For its part, the Volcán de Fuego erupted on Sunday and completely destroyed two locations in Escuintla, the worst hit: the communities of San Miguel Los Lotes and el Rodeo. So far there are 99 dead and more than 100 missing.
Steam billowed up from Hawaii’s largest freshwater lake, Green Lake, as lava flow evaporated its placid waters within a few hours and made it the latest casualty from the Big Island’s Kilauea volcano.
A steam plume first appeared around 10 a.m. Saturday as lava poured into Green Lake in Kapoho, but by 3 p.m. a Hawaii County Fire Department overflight confirmed to the US Geological Survey that the lake had filled with lava and the body of water was no more.
Green Lake – a popular swimming spot – once reached about 200 feet deep.
“I couldn’t believe it. I’ve never even heard of anything like that happening before.” said Hawaii Community College geography instructor Drew Kapp.
It’s been more than a month since lava began its slow, destructive path after Kilauea erupted. About 7.7 square miles of land have been covered by lava.
Residents also have had to contend with poisonous gases given off by the lava, which can include laze — hydrochloric acid and volcanic glass particles.
Green Lake isn’t the only part of the Big Island that the recent volcanic activity has transformed. Kapoho Bay, famous for its tide pools, was completely filled by lava Tuesday.
Giant clouds of superheated smoke and ash burned people alive and buried entire towns in a deadly volcanic eruption in Guatemala that killed almost 100 people.
Shocking satellite photos of before and after Sunday's eruption show whole suburbs wiped off the map as hundreds of houses collapsed when tons of falling ash crushed them.
What was once a collection of green canyons, hillsides and farms was reduced to grey devastation by fast-moving avalanches of super-heated muck that roared into the tightly knit villages on the mountain's flanks.
Volcan de Fuego, meaning 'Volcano of Fire' spewed a 'curtain' of ash 20,000ft into the air and sent rapid pyroclastic flows through at least seven nearby towns in the biggest eruption for four decades.
A secondary eruption on Tuesday blew ash more than 16,000ft above sea level and sent more volcanic material over settlements to the east and northeast.
Rescuers have dug 99 bodies out of the ash and rubble, only 28 of whom have been identified, with at least 197 people still missing with little hope of survival.
More than 1.7 million people we affected by the eruption with 12,000 evacuated to overflowing relief centers were volunteers gave out food and emergency supplies.
Farm worker Alfonso Castillo, 33, said his village of San Miguel Los Lotes was completely obliterated by what he described as a 'sea' of muck that came crashing into homes, inundating people, pets and wildlife.
'In a matter of three or four minutes the village disappeared,' he said.
Thick gray ash covering the stricken region was hardened by rainfall, making it even more difficult to dig through the mud, rocks and debris that reached to the rooftops of homes.
Rain often forced teams to retreat for fear of mudslides and boiling water flowing down the volcano's slopes from dangerously hot volcanic gas and ash also posed a threat.
Rescuer workers used pickaxes, metal rods and flashlights in hand, risking their own lives in search of victims or a miracle survivor while bulldozers stood by to help.
'We can only work in places where we can stand on the roofs of houses... because the ash is very hot,' rescuer Diego Lorenzana, 25, said.
'There are places where you stick the pickaxe or rod in and we see a lot of smoke coming out and fire and it's impossible to keep digging because we could die.'
Rescue operators said after 72 hours there was virtually no chance of finding anyone else alive.
'If you are trapped in a pyroclastic flow, it's hard to come out of it alive,' disaster relief agency chief Sergio Cabanas said, adding that people who may have been caught in the flow may never be found.
An elderly man, who was featured in a video shortly after the eruption that showed him in a state of shock, caked from head to toe in ash and mud, died from the severe burns he suffered.
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