Tremors prompt closure of paths through Costa Rica’s Rincón de la Vieja park

The Guanacaste office of the National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC) closed access to several trails in Rincón de la Vieja National Park Tuesday due to a series of recent tremors.

Trails to and along the volcano´s crater will be closed, as well as those to La Cangreja and La Escondida waterfalls.

The decision comes after the Seismological and Vulcanological Observatory of Arenal and Miravalles reported 27 small earthquakes in the area of a magnitude between 1.0 and 2.8 and with depths between two and four kilometers.

The National Seismological System – based at the University of Costa Rica with the support of the Costa Rican Electricity Institute – raised the alert level of the park from white, which indicates normal activity, to green, which signifies that changes to the volcano´s behavior have been noticed.

A communiqué from SINAC noted that that the new activity has not put anyone at risk, rather the closures are a preventive measure to avert harm that may be done by an eventual earthquake of greater magnitude.

Scientists and officials will continue to monitor the zone to determine if the trails are safe to open.