A new eruption commenced at the volcano yesterday.
At 11:50 PM local time, a new lava effusion began to emerge from a 3-5 km long eruptive fissure in the upper part of the southeastern slope of the volcano. The eruption has been producing multiple lava flows over the flank, reaching length of at least 5-6 km from the fissure. Lava flows have not yet reached the ocean, and it is still uncertain whether they will eventually make it to the sea.
The onset of the new effusive eruption was identified by the GOES-16 and VIIRS satellites. Moreover, the near-polar satellites SUOMI-NPP and NOAA-20 have recorded more than 1000 thermal anomalies during their passage over the Galapagos at 00:44 and 01:35 local time tonight.
A gas-steam plume containing some amount has been rising about 2-3 km above the summit towards the west, north-northwest and south-southeast.
During the second half of 2023, seismic instruments registered a series of seismic pulses in the southeastern sector of the volcano.
The ground has been bulged by 80 cm last year, reflecting continued magma intrusion and migration under the surface.
The likelihood of openings new eruptive fissures in the upcoming hours-to-days is not ruled out. Based on the ground deformation data, the eruption is expected to last longer than previous ones in 2017, 2018 and 2020. Once lava reaches the ocean, small but violent explosions due to lava and water interaction are expected. An additional phenomenon are forest fires such as appeared in the 2017 eruption.
Source: Instituto Geofísico volcano activity update 4 March 2024
