Also in Costa Rica! The Rincón de la Vieja volcano erupts

Rincon de la Vieja volcano in northern Costa Rica recorded a powerful eruption without recording assignments to people or infrastructure, a month after the last notable eruptive event, authorities reported.

“Today at 2:34 p.m., the Rincón de la Vieja volcano made a powerful eruption. The plume composed of water vapor and volcanic material reaches a height of 3,000 meters above crater level”Cyrill Müller, volcanologist at the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica (Ovsicori) of the National University (UNA) said in a video.

This eruption was phreatic and this happens when there is interaction between hot magma and water, which vaporizes and increases its volume a thousand times in seconds, producing an explosion.

Rincon de la Vieja Volcano is one of five Costa Rican assetslocated in the Guanacaste region, approximately 270 kilometers northwest of San José.

Until It’s at alert level 2 out of 4.which implies a state of significant seismicity and small eruptions with significant emission of acid gases, according to the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica.

Müller pointed out that the eruption, which occurs a month after the last similar one, generated lahars on the northern flank, which are a mixture of mud and hot water coming out of the lake when there is a rash.

These sediments descended through channels from the slopes of the volcano and dragged sediment down the hill, according to the National Emergency Center (CNE).

“This month, the volcano has been in constant eruption,” they said from the CNE, and warned residents of different towns near the volcano stay awaybecause they could transport materials and sediments from the volcano.

The activity recorded by the Rincón de la Vieja volcano is the most energetic of the month, Müller said, but not the biggest of the year.

The volcanologist added that monitoring parameters warn that probably there is a small magma intrusion and volcanic ridges below the crater.

The volcano Rincón de la Vieja is a massif 1,895 meters highlocated in the Central Cordillera of Costa Rica, which crosses the center of the country from north to south.

With information from AFP