Report on Telica (Nicaragua) — 1 September-7 September 2021
Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 1 September-7 September 2021
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.
Please cite this report as:
Global Volcanism Program, 2021. Report on Telica (Nicaragua) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 1 September-7 September 2021. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.
Telica
Nicaragua
12.606°N, 86.84°W; summit elev. 1036 m
All times are local (unless otherwise noted)
INETER reported that at 0525 on 1 September an explosion at Telica produced an ash plume that rose 250 m above the crater rim and drifted N and NW. Emissions periodically continued later that day, without explosions, and caused minor ashfall in areas to the NW, W, and SW including in the communities of Aguas Frías, San Pedro Nuevo, and Las Marías (7 km NNW).
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.
Source: Instituto Nicaragüense de Estudios Territoriales (INETER)