Colima, México

By ExploreNow Editor, on December 23rd, 2011

Volcano Type:     Stratovolcanoes
Volcano Status:   Historical
Last Known Eruption:    2010 (continuing)
Summit Elevation:    3850 m    12,631 feet
Latitude:    19.514°N    19°30’50″N
Longitude:    103.62°W    103°37’0″W

The Colima volcanic complex is the most prominent volcanic center of the western Mexican Volcanic Belt. It consists of two southward-younging volcanoes, Nevado de Colima (the 4320 m high point of the complex) on the north and the 3850-m-high historically active Volcán de Colima at the south. A group of cinder cones of late-Pleistocene age is located on the floor of the Colima graben west and east of the Colima complex. Volcán de Colima (also known as Volcán Fuego) is a youthful stratovolcano constructed within a 5-km-wide caldera, breached to the south, that has been the source of large debris avalanches. Major slope failures have occurred repeatedly from both the Nevado and Colima cones, and have produced a thick apron of debris-avalanche deposits on three sides of the complex. Frequent historical eruptions date back to the 16th century. Occasional major explosive eruptions (most recently in 1913) have destroyed the summit and left a deep, steep-sided crater that was slowly refilled and then overtopped by lava dome growth.

Colima Volcano eruption

Colima Volcanic Complex at the western end of the Mexican Volcanic Belt is the most active andesitic volcano in Mexico. The complex consists of a northern, inactive summit cone (Nevado de Colima) and a southern, active cone (Fuego de Colima). Colima volcano has been active for about five million years. There have been frequent historical eruptions from the summit crater. Pyroclastic flows, vertical ash columns and lava flows are characteristic of eruptions at the volcano. About 300,000 people live within 40 km of Colima, making it potentially one of the world’s most dangerous volcanoes.

Colima Volcano

Colima has the potential to be a devastating volcano. There are about 300,000 people living within 40 km of the volcano. It has been chosen by scientists as a “Decade volcano”, and has been singled out for careful study to predict if and when a major eruptive event is happening. There have been several evacuations of the region over the last decade, since a large eruption or lava flow could affect an 11-kilometer radius around the volcano. In a 1999 eruption, Colima blasted out material that reached a distance of 5 km. Fortunately, lava flows from the volcano have never reached inhabited areas.