Pacaya Volcano

Pacaya is a complex volcano roughly 30 kilometers south of Guatemala City, reaching about 2,552 meters, and is one of the most persistently active volcanoes in Central America. It sits on the southern rim of the Amatitlan Caldera and is built mainly from basaltic and basaltic-andesite lava; a catastrophic collapse of its older edifice roughly 1,100 years ago left a large horseshoe-shaped scarp, within which the modern, still-growing cone (often distinguished as Mackenney cone) has rebuilt over subsequent centuries. Pacaya has been in a near-continuous state of mild-to-moderate activity since a major eruption resumed in 1965 following a long dormancy, punctuated by more forceful episodes: a May 2010 eruption sent ash as far as Guatemala City, disrupted La Aurora International Airport, and killed a television journalist struck by flying volcanic debris while reporting near the crater. Its frequent, relatively accessible lava flows and glowing vents have made it one of Guatemala's most visited volcanoes for guided hiking. This entity documents Pacaya Volcano specifically as a geological formation, a basaltic complex volcano on the Amatitlan Caldera's rim that has erupted almost continuously since 1965.