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Report on San Cristobal (Nicaragua) — 22 June-28 June 2022


San Cristobal

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 22 June-28 June 2022
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2022. Report on San Cristobal (Nicaragua) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 22 June-28 June 2022. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (22 June-28 June 2022)

San Cristobal

Nicaragua

12.702°N, 87.004°W; summit elev. 1745 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


According to a news article, INETER reported that at 0751 on 26 June a moderate explosion at San Cristóbal produced a gas-and-ash plume that rose 1.5 km above the crater rim and drifted WSW. A minor amount of ash fell in the communities of La Grecias 3 and Las Grecias 4 (12 km WSW), and the city of El Viejo (18 km WSW). RSAM data spiked during the explosion and then returned to normal levels afterwards.

Geological Summary. The San Cristóbal volcanic complex, consisting of five principal volcanic edifices, forms the NW end of the Marrabios Range. The symmetrical 1745-m-high youngest cone, named San Cristóbal (also known as El Viejo), is Nicaragua's highest volcano and is capped by a 500 x 600 m wide crater. El Chonco, with several flank lava domes, is located 4 km W of San Cristóbal; it and the eroded Moyotepe volcano, 4 km NE of San Cristóbal, are of Pleistocene age. Volcán Casita, containing an elongated summit crater, lies immediately east of San Cristóbal and was the site of a catastrophic landslide and lahar in 1998. The Plio-Pleistocene La Pelona caldera is located at the eastern end of the complex. Historical eruptions from San Cristóbal, consisting of small-to-moderate explosive activity, have been reported since the 16th century. Some other 16th-century eruptions attributed to Casita volcano are uncertain and may pertain to other Marrabios Range volcanoes.

Source: Viva Nicaragua – Canal 13