Guatemala Volcano Forces Evacuations

CIUDAD DE GUATEMALA — The Guatemalan authorities ordered the evacuation of several communities near the Volcán de Fuego on Monday night due to the volcano’s eruption. Claudinne Ogaldes, executive secretary of the Coordinadora Nacional para la Reducción de Desastres (CONRED), confirmed to The Associated Press that the activity of the volcano, which began on Monday morning, increased throughout the day. As a precautionary measure, evacuations were ordered.

Live broadcasts showed large columns of gas and ash over the volcano as it spewed immense amounts of incandescent lava and fast-moving pyroclastic flows down its slopes. The Instituto Nacional de Sismología, Vulcanología, Meteorología e Hidrología (INSIVUMEH) reported, “The eruption increases its explosivity. A lava fountain has developed, reaching heights of 200 to 300 meters above the crater, sending incandescent material to all sides of the volcano.” CONRED’s press release stated that evacuations were taking place in the village of El Porvenir and Las Lajitas in the municipality of San Juan Alotenango, Sacatepéquez.

An estimated 50 families, comprising about 250 people, are expected to be evacuated from at least two communities to San Juan Alotenango’s municipality during the night.

A previous eruption on June 3, 2018, led to the deaths of hundreds and the disappearance of an entire community. Authorities reported that up to 1.7 million people were affected by that eruption. The National Route 14, which runs close to the volcano, has been closed. The Ministry of Education has also suspended classes in Alotenango, Escuintla, and Yepocapa municipalities.

The Volcán de Fuego, one of Guatemala’s most active volcanoes, stands at 3,768 meters high and is considered a stratovolcano: a tall, conical volcano built up by hardened lava, ash, and volcanic rock layers. It is located between the departments of Escuintla, Chimaltenango, and Sacatepéquez in the southern and central regions of the country. Preventive evacuations were also prompted by another eruptive phase of the volcano in June of the previous year.