Logo link to homepage

Report on Rincon de la Vieja (Costa Rica) — March 1992


Rincon de la Vieja

Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, vol. 17, no. 3 (March 1992)
Managing Editor: Lindsay McClelland.

Rincon de la Vieja (Costa Rica) Small explosions and rumbling; earthquakes

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 1992. Report on Rincon de la Vieja (Costa Rica) (McClelland, L., ed.). Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, 17:3. Smithsonian Institution. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.BGVN199203-345020



Rincon de la Vieja

Costa Rica

10.83°N, 85.324°W; summit elev. 1916 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


Rumbling and small explosions were reported on several occasions in March. Portable seismometers at Proyecto Geotérmico Miravalles (35 km SE of the active crater) recorded small earthquakes, possibly associated with explosions, on 13-16, 20, and 26 March. A maximum of five events was recorded, on 16 March.

Geological Summary. Rincón de la Vieja, the largest volcano in NW Costa Rica, is a remote volcanic complex in the Guanacaste Range. The volcano consists of an elongated, arcuate NW-SE-trending ridge constructed within the 15-km-wide early Pleistocene Guachipelín caldera, whose rim is exposed on the south side. Sometimes known as the "Colossus of Guanacaste," it has an estimated volume of 130 km3 and contains at least nine major eruptive centers. Activity has migrated to the SE, where the youngest-looking craters are located. The twin cone of Santa María volcano, the highest peak of the complex, is located at the eastern end of a smaller, 5-km-wide caldera and has a 500-m-wide crater. A Plinian eruption producing the 0.25 km3 Río Blanca tephra about 3,500 years ago was the last major magmatic eruption. All subsequent eruptions, including numerous historical eruptions possibly dating back to the 16th century, have been from the prominent active crater containing a 500-m-wide acid lake located ENE of Von Seebach crater.

Information Contacts: G. Soto and R. Barquero, ICE; Guillermo Alvarado, GEOMAR, Christian-Albrechts-Universität, Germany; Mario Fernández, Univ. de Costa Rica.