- Published: Friday, January 31, 2020-




By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

The National Emergency Commission declared a green alert Thursday for the districts of Aguas Claras and Dos Ríos, both communities of the canton of Upala, due to the eruption of the nearby Rincón de la Vieja Volcano in Guanacaste.

According to the report of the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory Thursday at 12:13 p,m, local time, the mountain spewed out a column that rose 2,000 meters above the crater's height and 3,916 meters above sea level.

According to the commission, the regions at risk are those that are located in areas where mudflows from the volcano may descend.

"Those in the communities are requested to stay away from riverbeds because mudflows can continue to descend," said the commission in its alert. Upala is in Guanacaste in northwest Costa Rica.

According to the specialists, there was also liquid material descending from the volcano down to the Penjamo River and Zanjonuda River after the eruption.

In addition, people living in the communities of Buenos Aires and Gavilán reported having perceived a strong smell of sulfur.

According to the observatory specialists, the eruption was classified at level 3, where gas hazards, water table eruptions and lahars are associated.

"The last phreatic eruption was recorded on Jan. 2 at 23:18," the Observatory said in its statement. "The seismicity increased, the background tremor was amplified and the frequency of short tremors intensified with several swarms."

Specialists call on people from the communities near the volcano to stay informed on official channels of the observatory, the Emergency Commission or the National Seismological Network.

Access to the volcano was closed due to the continuous eruptions.


Wednesday the commission called on people living in the communities near the volcano to increase precautionary measures in case of material blasted from the mountain.

According to the commission, since Monday there has been an increase in seismic activity associated with the movement of hydrothermal fluids inside the volcano.

Last April the observatory registered an eruption in the volcano that generated a column of gases 1,000 meters above the height of the crater and 2,916 meters above sea level.

According to specialists, the eruption had a duration of two minutes and generated major seismic activity. "The seismographs have registered in the last 24 hours a considerable number of tremors of short duration and low amplitude," they said at the time.

According to the report of the observatory, the gas eruption was observed and reported by people living in the vicinity of the northern sector of the volcano.

Last March the specialist recorded a two-minute eruption that sent a column 600 meters above the crater and 2,516 meters above sea level, "The volcano continues to emit low concentrations of magmatic gases, and we also registered volcanic earthquakes on low frequency," they said at that time.



In January 2019 two big eruptions of the volcano caused the death of fish and a caiman in the rivers in the area.

According to volcanologists, that day at 1 a.m. a two-minute eruption was reported. Due to poor visibility and bad weather, the height of the gases that were expelled by the volcano could not be measured.

Half an hour later, a second eruption caused a flow of material from the edges of the volcano and reached rivers. This is called a lahar, a violent flow of pyroclastic material, rocky debris, and water. The material that flows from a volcano typically goes along a river valley.

These eruptive events are phreatomagmatic, that is, explosions occur because of the magmatic gas interactions with the active crater's acid lake, and occasionally, small amounts of magma rise and hit the lake, generating even more violent explosions.

A witness reported that after the eruption and the sediment in the rivers, the people observed how the fish of the river began to float and that they even collected them in bags.

The dead fish collected had burned gills, and yellow and burned scales. A dead caiman was found on the river bank.

The Rincón de la Vieja Volcano has been in a stage of intense phreatic activity since 2011 with episodes of eruptions and increased activity since the end of 2015.

A.M. Costa Rica urges readers to share this alert with their contacts.

 

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