Based on INSIVUMEH special bulletins, CONRED reported increased activity at Fuego on 4 August, characterized by explosions ejecting incandescent material as high as 300 m above the crater rim and lava traveling 600 m down the Ceniza (SSW) ravine.
Explosions generated ash plumes that rose almost 1 km and drifted 12 km W and SW.
INSIVUMEH reported that multiple explosions during 5-6 August generated ash plumes that rose as high as 850 m above the crater and drifted 10 km W.
Some explosions generated shock waves that rattled nearby structures.
Incandescent material was ejected 100 m above the crater rim, and caused avalanches of material that traveled down the Ceniza, Taniluyá (SW), Santa Teresa (W), Las Lajas (SE), Honda (E), and Trinidad (S) drainages.
Ash fell in areas downwind, including Sangre de Cristo (8 km WSW) and Yepocapa (8 km WNW).
A lava flow was active 600 m down the Ceniza drainage.
Explosive activity increased on 7 August.
Ash plumes rose as high as 750 m and drifted 10 km W and SW.
Ballistics were ejected more than 150 m above the crater and fell 200 m away.
Shock waves continued to vibrate houses in nearby communities.
During 7-8 August two lava fountains rose 150 m high, heralding the seventh effusive episode at Fuego in 2017.
The fountains fed lava flows, 1.5 km and 700 m long, in the Ceniza and the Santa Teresa ravines, respectively.
Explosions (occurring at a rate of 6-8 per hour) produced ash plumes that drifted 20 km W, causing ashfall in Panimache (8 km SW), Morelia (9 km SW), Santa Sofía (12 km SW), El Porvenir (8 km ENE), and Yepocapa.
Sources: Coordinadora Nacional para la Reducción de Desastres (CONRED),Instituto Nacional de Sismologia, Vulcanologia, Meteorologia, e Hidrologia (INSIVUMEH)
Piton de la Fournaise (France)
