OVSICORI-UNA reported that at 1237 on 17 September a seismic signal indicating a phreatic explosion at Rincón de la Vieja was detected by a station about 5 km S of the volcano. A second phreatic explosion, detected at 2048 and lasting three minutes, was of a larger magnitude and a longer duration that the first explosion. Phreatic explosions were also detected at 1825 on 19 September and at 0304, 0439, and 0634 on 20 September. Residents on the N flank heard the event on 19 September and saw the explosion at 0634 on 20 September. An overflight of the crater lake on 20 September revealed that the temperature of the lake water was about 45 degrees Celsius, an increase from about 30 degrees measured in April.

Geological Summary. Rincón de la Vieja is a volcanic complex in the Guanacaste Range of NW Costa Rica. Sometimes referred to as the Rincon de la Vieja-Santa María Volcanic Complex, it consists of a slightly arcuate 20-km-long ridge of 12 craters and pyroclastic cones 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. The Santa María cone, the highest peak of the complex, is located on the E side of the ridge and has a lake within the 400-m-diameter 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 reported eruptions possibly dating back to the 16th century, have been from the active crater, near the center of the complex, with an acidic 300-m-diameter lake.

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