Volcán de Fuego

Volcán de Fuego has been in near-continuous eruption since January 2002 — over 23 years — making it one of the longest-running active eruptions on Earth.

The June 3, 2018 eruption killed at least 431 people and left 256 missing, making it the deadliest volcanic event worldwide since Mount Merapi killed 353 in 2010.

Fuego erupts unusually mafic basaltic magma for a large continental-arc stratovolcano — a characteristic that gives its lava fountains their intense orange-red incandescence.

The collapse of the ancestral Meseta edifice produced a debris-avalanche deposit that extends approximately 50 km (31 mi) onto the Pacific coastal plain — one of the largest volcanic landslide deposits in Central America.

Seven of Fuego's 79 recorded eruptions reached VEI 4, the most of any Guatemalan volcano at that intensity level.

Pyroclastic flows during the 2018 eruption traveled over 12 km from the summit, reaching temperatures exceeding 700°C (1,300°F) and speeds of 100–200 km/h.

Fuego, Acatenango, and Agua form a dramatic trio of peaks visible from the UNESCO World Heritage city of Antigua Guatemala, founded in 1543.

The volcano's nighttime Strombolian eruptions — visible from the summit of neighboring Acatenango — make the Acatenango overnight hike one of the world's most popular volcanic tourism experiences.

Fuego has produced eruptions in every century since the 16th, with 20 eruptions recorded in the 20th century alone.

The 1974 VEI 4 eruption became a landmark study for volcanologists, challenging the assumption that only silicic magmas could produce highly explosive sub-Plinian eruptions.

In the Kaqchikel Maya language, Fuego is known as Chi Q'aq', meaning 'where the fire is' — a name predating the Spanish translation by centuries.

The village of San Miguel Los Lotes, destroyed in 2018, was buried under several meters of pyroclastic debris — drawing comparisons to the Roman city of Pompeii.