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Geological Formations

Fuego Volcano

Volcanic Formations

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Fuego is a stratovolcano in south-central Guatemala, reaching about 3,763 meters, standing immediately beside the higher, dormant Acatenango volcano and near the colonial city of Antigua Guatemala, which it has periodically dusted with ash. Built from andesitic and basaltic-andesite material, Fuego is one of Central America's most consistently active volcanoes, typically producing frequent small-to-moderate explosions, ash plumes and glowing incandescent ejections visible at night, a pattern of near-permanent low-level activity punctuated by occasional violent episodes. Its most catastrophic recent eruption came on June 3, 2018, when a sudden, fast-moving pyroclastic flow raced down the volcano's southeastern flank with little warning, burying the village of San Miguel Los Lotes and killing well over 100 people, one of the deadliest volcanic disasters in Guatemala's modern history. The volcano's name, Spanish for "fire," reflects a long-documented history of eruptions reaching back to the colonial period. This entity documents Fuego Volcano specifically as a geological formation, a frequently erupting Guatemalan stratovolcano whose 2018 pyroclastic flow killed well over 100 people.

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