Forecasting the dispersion and fallout of volcanic ash during a crisis: Assessment of the September 20, 2020 eruption at Sangay volcano in Ecuador

Abstract:

Sangay volcano (2.00 S, 78.34 W, 5326 m asl), located at the southern end of the Northern Volcanic Zone of the Andes (Morona Santiago province, Ecuador), has frequently been referred as one of the most active volcanoes in the world. Its most recent eruptive period began on May 7, 2019 and is still ongoing. It is characterized by a semi-continuous viscous lava flow emission accompanied by frequent low magnitude explosions (Vasconez et al., this meeting). This eruptive episode is the first in more than two decades to produce significant impacts both locally and regionally, and reached its paroxysm on September 20, 2020 without clear precursory signals. The eruption started at 9: 20 (UTC) and lasted about one and a half hours. The eruptive column rapidly split into a high-altitude (15 km asl) gas-rich cloud, drifting eastward at 5-8 m/s and a lower (12 km asl) ash-rich cloud, drifting westward at 10-14 m/s. The ash …

Año de publicación:

2021

Keywords:

Fuente:

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