Fuego Erupts: Over 1,700 Flee as Volcano Unleashes Fury
Guatemala's Fuego volcano has entered its "most critical explosive phase," prompting authorities to declare the highest, red alert level and launch mass evacuations.
Guatemala's Fuego volcano has entered its "most critical explosive phase," prompting authorities to declare the highest, red alert level and launch mass evacuations.
A powerful eruption of Guatemala's Fuego volcano, considered the most active in Central America, triggered mass evacuations and the highest alert level on Tuesday. The volcanic activity, which began on Monday morning, August 4, 2026, intensified overnight, sending rivers of lava down the slopes and massive columns of ash kilometers into the sky.
The National Coordination Agency for Disaster Reduction (CONRED) initially issued an orange alert at the national level on Monday evening and began evacuating villages near the volcano. As the situation worsened, the alert level was raised to red on Tuesday for the regions of Sacatepéquez, Chimaltenango, and Escuintla, home to 1.6 million people. According to CONRED, more than 1,700 people have been evacuated from areas closest to the crater.
"The volcano is going through one of its most critical explosive phases," said Edwin Rojas, director of the volcanology institute Insivumeh. The eruption has been spewing fountains of lava between 200 and 300 meters above the crater, while the ash column has risen to over 7,000 meters. Ash is dispersing at altitudes of 5,000 to 6,000 meters and traveling up to 130 kilometers westward.
CONRED's executive secretary, Claudinne Ogaldes, warned that around 29,000 people are directly exposed to ash and urged residents to wear masks and protect their water and food supplies. "In these spaces, you will find care, support, and safe conditions while volcanic activity continues," Ogaldes wrote on platform X, urging families to voluntarily report to shelters.
Residents of villages at the volcano's base endured a night of terror. "We ran outside, terrified," said Alejandro Garcia, an evacuated resident, describing scenes of lava flowing down the mountain to AFP. Garcia added that locals fled on their own initiative out of fear as soon as the alert was raised.
Others expressed resignation and the constant fear they live with. "If there were any chance to move to another house, it would be better, because you're always afraid because the volcano gives no warning," said evacuated resident Lidia Ortiz to AFP. Sonia Vasquez, a 50-year-old resident, summed up the community's sentiment: "We've gotten used to the volcano being constantly active, but this time it was really too much."
Firefighters reported transporting at least 500 residents from the villages of El Porvenir and Las Lajitas to the municipality of San Juan Alotenango. The Ministry of Education suspended classes in schools in three nearby towns, and authorities temporarily closed and later reopened a nearby road leading to the colonial city of Antigua, a popular UNESCO-protected tourist destination.
By Tuesday morning, the eruption had lasted 23 hours, and according to the Institute of Volcanology, its intensity was slowly decreasing. So far, no impact has been reported on the international airport in the capital, Guatemala City, located less than 100 kilometers from the 3,763-meter-high volcano.
Guatemala sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," an area of intense seismic and volcanic activity. Fuego volcano has a tragic history; in the 2018 eruption, 215 people were killed, and around 200 are still listed as missing after rivers of lava devastated a village on its slopes. Last year, an eruption forced the evacuation of more than 500 people, and in 2023, around 1,200 residents had to leave their homes.
