The eruption of Santa Maria volcano in 1902 was one of the largesteruptions of the 20th century, forming a large crater on the mountain’ssouthwest flank. Since 1922, a lava-dome complex, Santiaguito, has beenforming in the 1902 crater. Growth of the dome has produced pyroclasticflows as recently as the 2001—they can be identified in this image.The city of Quezaltenango (approximately 90,000 people in 1989) sitsbelow the 3772 m summit. The volcano is considered dangerous because ofthe possibility of a dome collapse such as one that occurred in 1929,which killed about 5000 people. A second hazard results from the flowof volcanic debris into rivers south of Santiaguito, which can lead tocatastrophic flooding and mud flows.
More information on this volcano can be found at web sites maintained by the Smithsonian Institution, Volcano World, and Michigan Tech University.
References & Resources
ISS004-ESC-7999 was taken 17 February 2002 from the International Space Station using a digital camera. The image is provided by the Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Laboratory at Johnson Space Center. Searching and viewing of additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts is available at the NASA-JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth.
