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Report on Telica (Nicaragua) — 20 June-26 June 2018


Telica

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 20 June-26 June 2018
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2018. Report on Telica (Nicaragua) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 20 June-26 June 2018. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (20 June-26 June 2018)

Telica

Nicaragua

12.606°N, 86.84°W; summit elev. 1036 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


INETER and SINAPRED reported that an eruption at Telica began at 0708 on 21 June. Explosions produced an ash plume that rose 500 m above the crater and drifted E, S, and SW, and ejected tephra that was deposited within a 1-km-radius of the volcano. Ashfall was reported in areas including La Joya, Las Marías (7 km NNW), Pozo Viejo (10 km NNW), Ojo de Agua, San Lucas (11 km NNW), Las Higueras, Las Grietas (12 km NNW), and Posoltega (16 km WSW).

Geological Summary. Telica, one of Nicaragua's most active volcanoes, has erupted frequently since the beginning of the Spanish era. This volcano group consists of several interlocking cones and vents with a general NW alignment. Sixteenth-century eruptions were reported at symmetrical Santa Clara volcano at the SW end of the group. However, its eroded and breached crater has been covered by forests throughout historical time, and these eruptions may have originated from Telica, whose upper slopes in contrast are unvegetated. The steep-sided cone of Telica is truncated by a 700-m-wide double crater; the southern crater, the source of recent eruptions, is 120 m deep. El Liston, immediately E, has several nested craters. The fumaroles and boiling mudpots of Hervideros de San Jacinto, SE of Telica, form a prominent geothermal area frequented by tourists, and geothermal exploration has occurred nearby.

Sources: Instituto Nicaragüense de Estudios Territoriales (INETER), Sistema Nacional para la Prevención, Mitigación y Atención de Desastres (SINAPRED)