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San Pedro

Photo of this volcano
  • Country
  • Primary Volcano Type
  • Last Known Eruption
  •  
  • 14.656°N
  • 91.267°W

  • 3020 m
    9908 ft

  • 342810
  • Latitude
  • Longitude

  • Summit
    Elevation

  • Volcano
    Number

The Global Volcanism Program has no activity reports for San Pedro.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Weekly Reports available for San Pedro.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Bulletin Reports available for San Pedro.

This compilation of synonyms and subsidiary features may not be comprehensive. Features are organized into four major categories: Cones, Craters, Domes, and Thermal Features. Synonyms of features appear indented below the primary name. In some cases additional feature type, elevation, or location details are provided.

Eruptive History

The Global Volcanism Program is not aware of any Holocene eruptions from San Pedro. If this volcano has had large eruptions (VEI >= 4) prior to 10,000 years ago, information might be found on the San Pedro page in the LaMEVE (Large Magnitude Explosive Volcanic Eruptions) database, a part of the Volcano Global Risk Identification and Analysis Project (VOGRIPA).

Deformation History

There is no Deformation History data available for San Pedro.

Emission History

There is no Emissions History data available for San Pedro.

Photo Gallery

The twin volcanoes of Tolimán (left) and Atitlán (right) on the center skyline, along with San Pedro volcano in the foreground, rise above the southern shores of Lake Atitlán. This aerial view looking along the chain of stratovolcanoes stretching across Guatemala, also shows Fuego volcano at the upper left. The double-peaked Tolimán is somewhat older than the conical Atitlán volcano to its south.

Copyrighted photo by Katia and Maurice Krafft, 1983.
This dramatic photo looking SE down the axis of a chain of volcanoes extending across Guatemala shows six Quaternary volcanoes and one large caldera. Beginning in the right foreground are three volcanoes, San Pedro, the conical Atitlán, and Tolimán, that are constructed on the southern shore of Lake Atitlán, which fills a large Pleistocene caldera. The three volcanoes in the distance are, from left to right, Agua, Acatenango, and Fuego. Tolimán-Atitlán and Acatenango-Fuego are paired volcanoes along N-S lines.

Copyrighted photo by Katia and Maurice Krafft, 1983.
Volcán Atitlán, seen here from the SE with San Pedro volcano behind it and Tolimán volcano to its left, is a conical stratovolcano that rises to 3535 m south of Lake Atitlán (right). The historically active Atitlán is younger than Tolimán, although their activity overlaps. The northern side of the volcano is wooded to near the summit, whereas the upper 1000 m of the southern slopes, seen here, are unvegetated. Predominatley explosive eruptions have been recorded from Volcán Atitlán since the 15th century.

Copyrighted photo by Katia and Maurice Krafft, 1983.
Three stratovolcanoes fill the southern half of Atitlán caldera in this view from the NE. Atitlán caldera formed during three major explosive eruptions from the Miocene to late Pleistocene. Atitlán volcano (far left) was constructed above the southern rim of the youngest caldera, Atitlán III, whose low southern rim is visible on the center horizon beyond narrow Santiago bay. Tolimán (right of Atitlán) and San Pedro (far right) overlie the rim of Atitlán II. The buried rim of Atitlán I lies below the shoreline of Tolimán.

Photo by Bill Rose, 1980 (Michigan Technological University).
Volcán San Pedro (upper right) is the oldest of three stratovolcanoes constructed within Atitlán caldera. The furrowed slopes of the volcano contrast with the less eroded flanks of the both Atitlán and Tolimán volcanoes. Cerro de Oro, the small lava dome just beyond the shore of Lake Atitlán to the left, is a flank dome of Tolimán. Young lava flows from Tolimán descend into the lake and form part of its southern shore in this view from the west.

Photo by Bill Rose, 1978 (Michigan Technological University).
The rounded peak in the foreground is Tolimán volcano. The older post-caldera San Pedro volcano is across Santiago Bay to the right. In the distance are the peaks of Santo Tomás (left) and Santa María (right). Tajumulco volcano is the peak on the far-right horizon. The Guatemalan volcanic front rises more than 3,500 m above the hazy Pacific coastal plain to the upper left.

Photo by Bill Rose, 1980 (Michigan Technological University).
Santiago Bay in Lake Atitlán is the result of encroachment by the flanks of three post-caldera volcanoes into the lake. The narrow channel extends about 8 km to the low southern caldera wall and is about 1 km wide. To the right are the San Pedro flanks, the oldest of the post-caldera stratovolcanoes. Contrasting eruptive styles produced the irregular shoreline in the left foreground consisting of lava flows from Tolimán and the smoother shoreline to the right, formed by pyroclastic deposits from Atitlán.

Photo by Bill Rose, 1980 (Michigan Technological University).
Volcán San Pedro (center) occupies the SW corner of the roughly 85,000-year-old Atitlán III caldera. San Pedro is seen here across narrow Santiago Bay from the lower slopes of Atitlán and Tolimán volcanoes. The 3020-m-high San Pedro has a shallow summit crater that is breached to the NW. The age of the most recent activity of San Pedro is unknown, although the volcano is more vegetated and erosionally modified than the twin volcanoes of Tolimán and Atitlán and is clearly the oldest of the three post-caldera volcanoes.

Photo by Bill Rose, 1980 (Michigan Technological University).
This 2018 view of Volcán San Pedro of Guatemala is from the W near San Juan La Laguna, with Volcán Tolimán volcano behind it. These cones along with the active Atitlán cone behind them have formed along the rim of the Atitlán III caldera, with the lake in the foreground filling the northern area.

Photo by Ailsa Naismith, 2018.
GVP Map Holdings

The maps shown below have been scanned from the GVP map archives and include the volcano on this page. Clicking on the small images will load the full 300 dpi map. Very small-scale maps (such as world maps) are not included. The maps database originated over 30 years ago, but was only recently updated and connected to our main database. We welcome users to tell us if they see incorrect information or other problems with the maps; please use the Contact GVP link at the bottom of the page to send us email.

Smithsonian Sample Collections Database

There are no samples for San Pedro in the Smithsonian's NMNH Department of Mineral Sciences Rock and Ore collection.

External Sites