234 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1946 
areas. Celadonio Gutierrez wrote on February 20, 1946, in his simple 
diary of the life of the volcano. 
Three years ago my village existed tranquilly, without any warning of the 
voleano as it exists today. Three years ago all parts of this region were beauti- 
ful, with fruit trees in the villages and in the fields, green pastures, beautiful 
lands that demonstrated the wealth of the region, with cattle and sheep, and 
droves of horses that grazed in the rich fields. Now there remains for me only 
a memory and a pride to have known it as it was 3 years ago. 
Parficutin Volcano has continued to grow up to the present time 
(1946), although most of the later growth was in width rather than 
height. The greatest height recorded in 1946 was 1,500 feet. 
SUMMARY 
After 2 weeks of local earth tremors and subterranean noises, which 
increased day by day in strength and frequency, on February 20, 
1943, about 4 p. m., a small fissure about 25 meters long opened on the 
farm Cuiyiatziro, near Paricutin village. About 4:20 p. m., a sudden 
explosion opened a small vent about half a meter across at a spot 
near the west end of this fissure, and a small eruptive column of fine 
gray ash and small bombs arose from the orifice. ‘This orifice in- 
creased in size by the collapse of its walls, reaching 2 meters in dia- 
meter at 6 p. m., and the eruption increased in volume. Within the 
throat of the vent the ash bubbled like the sand in a spring, with a 
noise like a cauldron of water boiling vigorously. An odor of sulfur 
pervaded the vicinity of the vent. Small mounds of fine hot ash 
half a meter high began to collect about the orifice. Between 10 p. m. 
and midnight heavy eruptions began, with thunderous noises and the 
ejection of large incandescent bombs. 
During the night the cone grew slowly, reaching a height of 10 
meters by 8 a.m. During the day of the 21st, activity greatly in- 
creased, and the cone grew very rapidly, reaching 30 meters by mid- 
day. Probably the first lava flow appeared during this day. 
Heavy activity, with thunderous noises, continued, with increased 
quantities of ejected bombs, and the cone rose to a height of over 160 
meters on February 26. In late March the first lava flow ceased, and 
the eruptive activity changed to the heavy emission of ash, the eruptive 
column rising to more than 20,000 feet. Later flows spread over the 
area, eventually engulfing the village of Parfcutin and Parangari- 
cutiro. 
