Evacuations Ordered as Volcán de Fuego Erupts in Guatemala

Guatemalan authorities have ordered the evacuation of communities near the Volcán de Fuego following an eruption. Claudinne Ogaldes, executive secretary of the Coordinadora Nacional para la Reducción de Desastres (CONRED), confirmed that the volcanic activity began on Monday morning and intensified throughout the day. In response, evacuations were ordered as a precaution.

Live broadcasts showed large columns of gas and ash rising from the volcano, while glowing lava and pyroclastic flows descended rapidly. The Instituto Nacional de Sismología, Vulcanología, Meteorología e Hidrología (INSIVUMEH) reported an increasing level of explosivity with a lava fountain of 200 to 300 meters above the crater.

A statement from CONRED indicated that evacuations are taking place in the hamlet El Porvenir and the village Las Lajitas in the municipality of San Juan Alotenango, located in the department of Sacatepéquez. It is expected that around 50 families, totaling approximately 250 people, will be evacuated and sheltered in San Juan Alotenango.

An eruption on June 3, 2018, resulted in hundreds of deaths 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, near the volcano, has been closed, and the Ministry of Education suspended classes in the municipalities of Alotenango in Sacatepéquez, Escuintla in Escuintla, and Yepocapa in Chimaltenango.

The Volcán de Fuego, one of Guatemala’s most active volcanoes, stands at 3,768 meters in height. It is considered a stratovolcano, characterized by its tall, conical shape formed by hardened lava, ash, and rocks. The volcano is located between the departments of Escuintla, Chimaltenango, and Sacatepéquez in the southern and central region of the country. In June of the previous year, the volcano experienced another eruptive phase that also required preventive evacuations.