Nature in a country like Costa Rica is unpredictable. Therefore, it’s difficult to project if at some point eruptions similar to those that caused a wake of death and destruction in Guatemala will occur here.
Fuego Volcano, located 50 kilometers from Guatemala City and with a height of 3,700 meters, produced a series of powerful eruptions -with pyroclastic flows and waves- that buried entire villages and left more than 70 dead.
Pyroclastic flows or waves are emanations of large clouds of volcanic material with very hot rocks (above 700 ° C), which descend at high speed (up to 200 km/h) from the volcanic slopes.
Although at present no Costa Rican volcano has shown this type of activity, in the past there have been pyroclastic flows and waves in national territory.
Costa Rican Volcanoes:
Arenal: It will be 50 years since the great eruption of 1968. It generated pyroclastic flows and waves that killed dozens of people and hundreds of cattle heads. It was an eruption greater than that of Fuego Volcano. Arenal is currently in a sleeping stage.
Poás: In April 2017 it generated phreatomagmatic eruptions, with pyroclastic flows and waves. The waves, which are more gas than rock, affected the viewpoint of tourists and burned vegetation. They were small pyroclastic flows and waves that were concentrated in the crater and surrounding areas.
Irazú: It produced important eruptions in the 60s. There are deposits in the same viewpoint of tourists that show that it has generated pyroclastic waves. The waves are characterized by having more gas, instead of rocks. They were not as great as those of Fuego or Arenal volcanoes.
Turrialba: In May 2016, it generated a pyroclastic surge. Also, a pyroclastic flow was formed and it managed to overcome the ring of the active crater and began to run down the slope that goes to La Central. It was the last time there was something like this in the Central Volcanic Mountain Range.
Rincón de la Vieja: Since 2017 it has been quite active, with similar events with minor pyroclastic flows and waves.
Experts insist that monitoring devices installed in national volcanoes are not infallible and eruptive events cannot be predicted. However, the culture of risk and prevention rooted in the Costa Rican system is in everyone’s favor.