Guatemala - January 27, 2025 Dramatic new footage from Santiaguito volcano captures its intense activity, with drone and thermal imagery revealing powerful explosions and pyroclastic avalanches. The eruptive column from the summit crater has exceeded 500 meters, with reports from INSIVUMEH confirming gas and ash plumes reaching up to 1.2 km on 27 January 2025. The explosions originate from ring fractures along the crater rim, where the El Caliente lava dome remains highly active. Part of a complex of dacitic lava domes formed since 1922, El Caliente has been in near-constant activity since 2016, producing frequent block avalanches and occasional pyroclastic flows. Thermal imaging highlights the movement of hot volcanic material down the slopes, while Guatemala’s wet season increases the risk of lahars. Researchers from the INGV (Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia) monitoring the eruption as part of the BACIO-DYNAMO project report explosion intervals ranging from 7-8 minutes to an hour, with fragment ejection velocities lower than those seen in basaltic eruptions.