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Agua Volcano | John Seach
Guatemala
14.465 N, 90.743 W
summit elevation 3760 m
Stratovolcano
Agua is a symmetrical volcano located in southern Guatemala. The volcano contains six small pit craters on the NW flank.
The summit contains a circular, 250 m diameter crater, which is breached towards the NNE. The crater walls are vegetated. No historical eruptions have occurred at the volcano.
Agua volcano - John Seach
Agua volcano - John Seach
Agua volcano 2010 - John Seach
1541 Lahar
In 1541 a lahar at the volcano destroyed the original Guatemalan capital city, killing more than 600 people. Eyewitness accounts of the lahar reported:
"A great storm of water came from atop the volcano which is above the city, it
was so sudden that [we] did not ... prevent the deaths and damages...those who saw it were impressed, it entered through the house of the “Adelantado” don Pedro
Alvarado, and it took away all the walls and the roof..."
The 1541 debris flow at Agua was similar to the 1998 debris flow at Casita volcano, during hurricane Mitch.
Eruptions of Agua volcano
Agua has erupted explosively in the past 80,000 years, creating widespread ash-fall deposits, pyroclastic flows and lava flows. The most recent eruptions are more than 10,000 years ago.
Hazards at the volcano
There are hazards from future landslides and lahars at Agua volcano. The probability of explosive eruptions at Agua volcano is less than at nearby Acatenango and Fuego volcanoes. A lahar-hazard-zonation map has been produced for the volcano.
Further reading
Schilling, S.P., Vallance, J.W., Matías, O. and Howell, M.M., 2001. Lahar hazards at Agua volcano, Guatemala (No. 2001-432). US Geological Survey.
Agua Volcano Eruptions
No recent eruptions.