The 2018 Guatemala Fuego volcano disaster and omens in local narrative

Record summary

The June 2018 eruption of Volcán de Fuego caused major loss of life and displacement, followed by narratives about warning signs, dreams, prophetic knowledge, institutional neglect and sacred relationships with volcanoes. The case can support comparison between Indigenous and Christian interpretations of volcanic danger, modern disaster communication and retrospective omen-making. It is not evidence that supernatural warnings predicted the eruption. Researchers should identify which accounts were recorded immediately, which emerged later, and how media translated Kaqchikel or other local understandings into Spanish-language disaster narratives.