OVSICORI-UNA reported that at 0800 on 25 February officials at the Parque Nacional Volcán Poás noted that the gray crater lake had convection cells and weak fumarolic activity at the S edge of the lake around a cryptodome. At 1203 a strong phreatic explosion from Poás was recorded by webcams at the N end of the lake. The explosion ejected water, steam, gas, sediment, and rock fragments over 400 m above the lake's surface. Most of the material fell back into the lake, and onto the W, N, and E parts of the crater walls. Fumarolic activity around the cryptodome and lake convection both increased after the explosion.

Geological Summary. The broad vegetated edifice of Poás, one of the most active volcanoes of Costa Rica, contains three craters along a N-S line. The frequently visited multi-hued summit crater lakes of the basaltic-to-dacitic volcano are easily accessible by vehicle from the nearby capital city of San José. A N-S-trending fissure cutting the complex stratovolcano extends to the lower N flank, where it has produced the Congo stratovolcano and several lake-filled maars. The southernmost of the two summit crater lakes, Botos, last erupted about 7,500 years ago. The more prominent geothermally heated northern lake, Laguna Caliente, is one of the world's most acidic natural lakes, with a pH of near zero. It has been the site of frequent phreatic and phreatomagmatic eruptions since an eruption was reported in 1828. Eruptions often include geyser-like ejections of crater-lake water.

Source: Observatorio Vulcanologico y Sismologico de Costa Rica-Universidad Nacional (OVSICORI-UNA)