When the Fuego volcano near Antigua, Guatemala erupted on June 3, it wasn't immediately apparent to the people living on its slopes quite how dangerous this event would be. The explosive nature, speed and direction of the eruption were all unexpected. Entire villages were destroyed, and houses covered in thick ash.

The city of Antigua Guatemala (originally Santiago de los Caballeros) was famously devastated by Volcán de Agua in 1541. This was not a typical lava eruption but a catastrophic lahar (a massive mudslide and flood). Heavy rains caused the water-filled crater at the volcano's summit to breach, sending a wall of water, rocks, and trees down onto the original capital. This event killed much of the population, including the governor Beatriz de la Cueva, and forced the survivors to move the capital to its current location in the Panchoy Valley. Later, in 1773, the city was further leveled by the Santa Marta earthquakes, which were exacerbated by the seismic activity of the surrounding "Ring of Fire" volcanoes, including Volcán de Fuego and Acatenango. In 2026, these volcanoes remain a defining feature of the Antigua skyline; while Fuego is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and frequently puffs smoke, the historic "destruction" that most people reference in textbooks remains the 1541 disaster tied to the "Water Volcano" (Agua).