Guagua Pichincha is a stratovolcano which is located just 13 kilometers (~8 miles)
west of Quito, the capital of Ecuador. The volcano had minor eruptions in 1981, 1982, 1997,
and 1998 but the last major eruption occurred in 1660 when the city of Quito was blanketed with
30 centimeters (~1 foot) of ash.
On the afternoon of October 5, 1999, Guagua Pichincha erupted sending large amounts
of ash over and onto Quito. The ash caused severe air quality problems and forced the closing of all
commercial airports in and around the city. Two days later the volcano erupted again, this time in
the morning.
OSEI provided full product coverage of both events including still images and movie loops
of both eruptions.
OSEI Products
