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In this photo released by the civil defense unit of the state government of Jalisco, the eruption plume from the initial stage of the powerful vulcanian explosion at Colima volcano on May 23, 2005, has been captured on film. The collapsing eruption column loaded with ash and rock fragments has not yet fully developed, but the flanks of the volcano are already covered by the impacts of ballistics. (AP Photo/Proteccion Civil del estado de Jalisco-HO)
In this photo released by the civil defense unit of the state government of Jalisco, the eruption plume from the initial stage of the powerful vulcanian explosion at Colima volcano on May 23, 2005, has been captured on film. The collapsing eruption column loaded with ash and rock fragments has not yet fully developed, but the flanks of the volcano are already covered by the impacts of ballistics. (AP Photo/Proteccion Civil del estado de Jalisco-HO)


Colima volcano
Stratovolcano 3850 m / 12,631 ft
Western Mexico, 19.51°N / -103.62°W
Current status: normal or dormant (1 out of 5)
Colima webcams / live data | Volcano videos | Books | Tours
Colima volcano eruptions:
1519, 1560, 1576, 1585, 1590, 1602(?), 1606, 1611-1613, 1622, 1690, 1711, 1743(?), 1744, 1749(?),1769, 1770, 1771, 1780, 1794, 1795, 1804, 1806-1809, 1818, 1819, 1866, 1869, 1870-71, 1872-73, 1874, 1875-78, 1879-80, 1880-81, 1882-84, 1885-1886, 1887, 1889-90, 1890, 1891-92, 1893-1902, 1903, 1904-1906, 1908-09, 1913, 1926-1931(?), 1941(?), 1957-1960, 1961-62, 1963-70, 1973(?), 1975-76, 1977-1982, 1983(?), 1985-86, 1987, 1988(?), 1991, 1994, 1997-2011, 2013-ongoing
Typical eruption style:
Dominantly explosive. Construction of lava domes, vulcanian eruptions and strombolian activity. In near-constant activity since 1994.

Colima volcano tours:
Colima Volcano Special (5 days expedition to observe and photograph Colima volcano, Mexico)

Volcano news: Colima Volcano (Mexico)

Colima volcano (Mexico): strong explosions

Tue, 24 Mar 2015, 18:59
18:59 PM | BY: T
Eruption at Colima volcano this morning (photo: Hernando Rivera)
Eruption at Colima volcano this morning (photo: Hernando Rivera)
Webcam image of the same eruption
Webcam image of the same eruption
The volcano continues to produce sometimes strong vulcanian-type explosions that seem to have picked up in strength over the past days.
An eruption at 03:08 am local time produced fountaining of lava several hundred meters high and appears to have caused a small pyroclastic flow.
Previous news
Fri, 20 Mar 2015, 15:43
Colima volcano (Western Mexico) activity update
Explosion at Colima this morning
Intermittent explosions and ash emissions continue, but at lower frequency and intensity as during the previous weeks. read all
Fri, 13 Mar 2015, 09:37
Colima volcano (Mexico): intermittent strong explosions
Eruption of Colima around 1 am on 12 March (photo: Hernando Rivera)
The volcano continues to be highly active, producing intermittent explosions of various size. read all
Sat, 7 Mar 2015, 19:44
Colima volcano, Mexico: explosive activity Feb 2015
A selection of night-time photos of eruptions observed from the west and north of Colima volcano during 22-28 Feb. ... read all
Wed, 4 Mar 2015, 16:46
Colima volcano (Western Mexico) activity update
Ash eruption from Colima this morning
Activity remains similar as during the past week when we observed it from close - intermittent small to moderate explosions producing ash plumes of 1-2 km height. During our last overflight on Saturday, we could see that the lava dome had disappeared, likely a result of the recent explosions. ... read all
Sat, 28 Feb 2015, 22:02
Colima, Mexico: Explosive activity replaces effusive lava flows and domes
Starry sky and large explosive eruption of Colima, photograph by Hernando Rivera.
Dr Tom Pfeiffer is part of a volcano filming expedition in Mexico at the moment. They have been observing Colima volcano over the past few days. read all

Background:

Colima volcano is one of the most active in North America and one of the potentially most dangerous ones. It has had more than 30 periods of eruptions since 1585, including several significant eruptions in the late 1990s. Scientific monitoring of the volcano began 20 years ago. 

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 probable 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.
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Source: GVP, Smithsonian Institute - Colima information

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