GUATEMALA CITY, Aug. 4 (ANI) — Guatemalan authorities raised the country’s emergency warning to its second-highest level Monday following a major eruption of Central America’s most active volcano.
The country’s disaster coordination agency, Conred, declared a nationwide orange alert after Fuego Volcano experienced a surge in activity, generating dangerous pyroclastic density currents that flowed toward the Seca and Ceniza ravines on its southwestern flank.
Emergency officials immediately began evacuating two villages near the volcano, which is located about 22 miles (35 kilometers) southwest of the capital, Guatemala City.
Conred announced the heightened alert in a post on X, stating, “An orange (danger) alert has been declared nationwide due to the eruption of the Fuego volcano.”
As a precaution, authorities also closed National Highway RN-14, which provides access to Alotenango, because of volcanic material descending through the Las Lajas ravine.
In response to the growing threat, the disaster management agency urged residents in affected areas to avoid ravines and stay away from designated danger zones. Conred also advised families to prepare a 72-hour emergency kit, review and activate their family emergency response plans, and evacuate if conditions become unsafe.
According to DW, mass evacuations have occurred repeatedly in recent years because of eruptions at the 12,346-foot (3,763-meter) Fuego Volcano.
Located along the Pacific Ring of Fire, Guatemala frequently experiences volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.
In response to the latest eruption, government officials suspended classes in nearby communities and closed a major highway linking southern Guatemala with the historic city of Antigua, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, DW reported.
According to DW, a 2023 eruption of Fuego Volcano forced about 1,200 residents to evacuate. A far more devastating eruption in 2018 sent fast-moving volcanic flows down the volcano’s slopes, destroying a village, killing 215 people, and leaving a similar number missing. (ANI)
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