Costa Rica’s Turrialba Volcano sees new ash, gas explosions
Turrialba Volcano, located 50 kilometers east of Costa Rica’s capital, this month has recorded an increase in activity that so far includes five ash, gas and vapor explosions. The most recent event occurred on Monday at 5:33 p.m., according to the University of Costa Rica’s National Seismological Network (RSN).
The explosion formed an ash plume of about one kilometer high, similar to that reported during another explosion on Sunday that also included gas emanations.
08-02-2016: Erupción del volcán Turrialba ocurrida a las 05:33 p.m. del día de hoy. La RSN se mantiene al tanto de la evolución de la actividad de este volcán. Informa: Dr. Mauricio M. Mora
由 Red Sismológica Nacional, Costa Rica 发布于 2016年2月8日
Earlier on Monday RSN monitoring systems recorded an explosion at 10:24 a.m. that formed an ash plume of about 400 meters high, but shortly after it moved towards the Braulio Carrillo National Park area, the agency reported. Other similar explosions occurred Saturday at 1:50 p.m. and Sunday at 10:26 p.m.
RSN volcanologist Raúl Mora said experts noticed an increase in Turrialba’s activity since late January, along with a spike in seismic activity.
So far this month the RSN has registered tremors of moderate magnitudes in the area. Last Wednesday, Feb. 3 at 9:40 a.m., a strong, magnitude-4.4 temblor with an epicenter located 17 kilometers west of the Caribbean canton of Guápiles was reported by residents in Limón, Cartago and San José.
On Monday at 1:40 p.m., a magnitude-3.8 temblor was recorded in Santa Rosa de Turrialba, while at 9:04 a.m. on Tuesday, RSN reported a magnitude-2.9 temblor with an epicenter located 15 kilometers west of Guápiles, near the Turrialba area.
RSN experts believe more explosions likely will occur in coming days, and that considering current weather conditions, ash could reach some other areas in the Central Valley.
For tourists traveling to Costa Rica, the National Emergency Commission maintains a yellow, or preventive, alert for all areas surrounding Turrialba, and access to some areas is currently closed to visitors.
You may be interested

Amazon Web Services opens new Costa Rica office
Alejandro Zúñiga - February 25, 2021Amazon Web Services, a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc., on Thursday opened a new office in Costa Rica to support the…

Costa Rica aims for urban natural parks to improve wellness in cities
The Tico Times - February 25, 2021The Costa Rican government this week issued a decree creating a new type of park within the framework of the…

Rule of law deteriorating in Nicaragua: UN rights chief
AFP - February 25, 2021The rule of law is deteriorating in Nicaragua ahead of November's general elections, UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet warned Thursday,…