Fuego volcano in Guatemala
The Fuego volcano in Guatemala has recently undergone a major explosion, sending a cloud of ash up to 4,700 metres into the sky.

The Fuego volcano is an active volcano in Guatemala, Central America. The volcano is located on the Ring of Fire, a 40,000km horseshoe in the Pacific Ocean known for high volcanic and seismic activity. According to recent reports, volcanologists have observed an increase in activity at the Fuego volcano in recent days.

Volcan de Fuego, Spanish for "Volcano of Fire", is located in Guatemala on the Central America Volcanic Arc.

Fuego is a stratovolcano or composite volcano, and it has a conical shape.


The imposing structure can be seen from Guatemala's capital, Guatemala City, 27 miles away from Fuego's summit.

The Fuego volcano is well known to be almost constantly active at low levels.

While larger eruptions are rare, small gas and ash eruptions occur every 15 to 20 minutes.

According to Volcano Discovery, on Monday, August 31 "ongoing strombolian activity" caused lava to eject up to 300 metres above the summit of the volcano.

The eruption sparked "moderate to strong avalanches of material", and lava reportedly started to descend down the slopes of the volcano.

Weak to moderate explosions were recorded at six to nine-hour intervals, and an ash plume reached approximately 4,500 to 4,700ft into the sky.

During previous eruptions, the Fuego volcano has caused major devastation.

The Fuego volcano erupted in June 2018, and it was the volcano's most violent eruption in four decades.

Volcanologists believe the ash plume from the eruption propelled up to 33,000ft in the air.

The eruption killed more than 190 people, making it one of the deadliest volcanic eruptions in Guatemala's history.

The Fuego eruption on June 3 affected more than 1.7 million people in three of Guatemala's states.

At the time Reuters reported a communication breakdown between a disaster agency and volcanologists delayed evacuations in the region.

Rain and clouds over the area obscured the visual observation of the volcano.