Lightning strikes erupting volcano in Guatemala in breathtakingly surreal video

Though nature often offers glimpses of its mesmerizing beauty, sometimes it likes to be a little extra. In April 2023, Guatemala witnessed a stunning event when a thunderstorm coincided with the eruption of Volcán de Fuego near Antigua. The breathtaking footage has since gone viral on social media.

As thunder growled in the sky, the volcano’s mouth spewed glowing lava, branching into streaks of electric light that lit up the brownish-pink sky. The entire scene grabbed the attention of nearby people who were quick to start recording the event. 

One person present at the scene was photographer Johan Wolterink (@johanwolterink). "What are the odds," he captioned the popular Instagram reel that amassed 728,000 views and over 28,000 likes. The video was also shared countless times on social media.

Another perspective was shared by @maiduspace and garnered more than 93 million views and nearly 6 million likes. "I have never seen such a scene," she wrote in the caption, describing the video.

Curious about nature’s dazzling phenomenon, people spun imaginary scenarios relating to this event. For instance, writing on a tweet where this footage was reposted, @berickson_bio said, “Imagine the Maya people witnessing something like that (and they may have). Hello volcano gods.” @boijuanda quipped, “God told the Angels, ‘Check this out, I'm about to give them a lil razzle dazzle.’” Some were just awestruck by the breathtaking sight. "That's equally amazing and apocalyptically terrifying," commented @NebularNerd and @ForesterGe66289 added, "Wow! Brilliant images."

This event was special because it was a mix of volcanic eruption and lightning, hence dubbed “volcanic lighting.” According to the National Geographic Society, volcanic lighting is not formed deep in the Earth. It only forms in a volcanic plume. Only those volcanoes that have a thick crust can exhibit this phenomenon.

Usually, volcanic lighting occurs when volcanoes eject gushes of gases, lava, rocks, and ash as they erupt into the atmosphere. The ash particles collide and rub against each other, their atoms pick up electrons which create positively and negatively charged sides of the ash plume, generating static electricity, which can trigger lighting, according to the Center for the Study of Active Volcanoes at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo.

Volcanoes like Fuego that produce lightning are sometimes referred to as “dirty thunderstorms,” per Smithsonian Magazine. Fuego, nicknamed the “Volcano of Fire,” sits roughly 30 miles southwest of Guatemala City in Central America. It’s an active stratovolcano that has been “vigorously erupting” since 2002, as per the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program. 

Current reports suggest that this fiery volcano emits flurries of gas and ash into the air as often as multiple times a day. This frequency has especially leapfrogged since its eruption in 2018 which was marked by blasting explosions, pyroclastic flows, and lahars.