Volcano in Guatemala

Santa Maria volcano: eruption status today

Updated

Santa Maria is active now: NASA lists an open volcanic activity event (latest report Mar 18, 2020) 2 satellite hot spots within 10 km. 2 earthquakes within 50 km in the past 7 days.

Live status of Santa Maria: whether it is erupting now, satellite hot spots, earthquakes around it, and what an eruption would mean for nearby cities and flights.

Status now
Active (NASA EONET) latest report Mar 18, 2020
Last eruption
1964 or later last significant: 1990
Elevation
3,745 m 12,287 ft
Type
Stratovolcano
Earthquakes within 50 km
2 past 30 days (USGS)
Hot spots within 10 km
2 latest NASA FIRMS VIIRS data
Nearest city
Quetzaltenango 10 km NNE

Open on the live map

Is Santa Maria erupting right now?

NASA's Earth Observatory Natural Event Tracker (EONET) has an open volcanic event for Santa Maria, last updated Mar 18, 2020 (2413 days ago). EONET opens an event when agencies such as the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program report eruptive activity or unrest, and closes it when activity ends.

NASA FIRMS shows 2 thermal hot spots within 10 km of the summit in the latest VIIRS satellite passes (strongest 3.3 MW fire radiative power). Hot spots on a volcano can be lava, a glowing vent or ordinary vegetation fires; satellites cannot tell them apart on their own.

Earthquakes near Santa Maria

USGS located 2 earthquakes within 50 km of Santa Maria in the past 30 days, 2 of them in the last week. The largest was M4.6 on Oct 19, 2026, 39 km SSE of the summit at 110 km depth.

0 of them were shallower than 10 km. Swarms of shallow quakes can mean magma or gas is moving, but most swarms end without an eruption; observatories combine them with ground deformation and gas data.

Time (UTC)MagnitudeDistanceDepthLocation
Oct 22, 07:28 UTCM4.241 km NE177 km3 km WNW of Patzité, Guatemala
Oct 19, 14:47 UTCM4.639 km SSE110 km5 km E of San José El Ídolo, Guatemala

About Santa Maria

Santa Maria is a stratovolcano in Guatemala, rising to 3,745 m (12,287 ft). NOAA NCEI classes its eruptive history as "Historical".

Stratovolcanoes are steep cones built from alternating lava and ash layers; their eruptions are often explosive, with ash columns that can reach cruising altitude.

The nearest large town is Quetzaltenango, about 10 km NNE of the summit; 5 other cities lie within 250 km.

Flights and volcanic ash

No major hub airport is within 400 km (the closest is Cancún, 856 km away), but ash clouds from explosive eruptions can drift for thousands of kilometres along flight routes.

Volcanic Ash Advisory Centres (VAACs) issue the official ash advisories that airlines and air traffic control follow.

Other volcanoes in Guatemala

Guatemala has 4 volcanoes on this site that erupted since 1900 or are active now, 1 of them with an open NASA activity report today. The closest other one is Tacana, 73 km away.

Nearby volcanoes

Volcanoes in Guatemala

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Data: NOAA NCEI Volcano Locations, NASA EONET (open volcano events), USGS earthquakes, NASA FIRMS (VIIRS hot spots), Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program.