Volcano Arenal Has Become One of the Most Popular Destinations in Costa Rica.

On July 29, 1968, Costa Rica’s Arenal Volcano, which had been extinct for as long as anyone could remember, surprised the world with a powerful eruption. The volcano had been quiet for over 400 years. Locals even called it Cerro Arenal, or Arenal Mountain, instead of recognizing it as a volcano. Hunters liked to spend the night by the craters, enjoying the warmth that the stones emitted, evidently without asking themselves why it was so hot there! Today, the reality is much clearer and this volcano that once brought such destruction can now be celebrated for bringing progress and tourism to the region.

The night previous to the eruption just 40 years ago, local inhabitants had been kept awake with tremors and explosions. On the fateful day, Monday July 29th at 7:30 a.m., Arenal violently erupted, taking everyone by surprise and killing 89 people and burying three villages, San Luis, Tabacon and Pueblo Nuevo, forming three new active craters with this first explosion.

The eruptions continued for days, with lava flows destroying an area of 12 square kilometers. The damages extended over an area of 232 square kilometers with crops, livestock, properties, flora and fauna badly affected. It ferociously threw huge amounts of lava, rocks weighing several tons and ash at a speed of 600 meters per second as far as a kilometer away. The fumes and the heat were themselves too much to deal with. Ash went as far as Santa Cruz in Guanacaste. Large rocks that traveled for miles are still found, with craters up to 20 meters wide and 3 meters deep, such were their speed and size.

Arenal is the youngest of Costa Rica’s volcanoes, and without a doubt the most active. It is called a stratovolcano, or composite volcano, like Mt. Fuji in Japan, Mt. Mayon in the Philippines and Mt. Agua in Guatemala. It has stombolian eruptions, meaning that it has a type of activity that produces frequent and moderate eruptions, ever since it suddenly woke up 40 years ago. Indeed, it is now considered to be the tenth most active volcano in the world.

Arenal is not only active on the inside, the volcano itself is physically growing as well. It is building more and more height to its structure, a few meters each year. Its three craters, named in ascending order A, B and C, all formed on its western side, with C being the most active crater at the moment. Experts say that if Arenal keeps growing in this way, the population of La Fortuna would find themselves dangerously exposed to the rocks and the lava flow. It currently has an altitude of 1670 meters, and getting higher would definitely mean danger!

Today burning fumes and rocks are falling at high speeds from this side of the volcano, which when solidified, help to make the volcano grow at a significant speed. As it is such a young volcano, it is also creating more space for itself, thus growing up and outward, which has caused some destruction of the surrounding area.

Despite the frequent activity and growth, which is described as ‘periodic’, volcano specialists claim there is nothing to worry about. Nobody is moving from the popular destination and more and more Costa Rica Tour operators and hotels are popping up at the base of the mountain. Indeed, Arenal is now one of the most popular destinations in Costa Rica.

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Filed under: Costa Rica News on July 30th, 2008