Seeing an active volcano is one of Costa Rica’s main attractions for both local and foreign tourists, but people in the country’s NorthEast area are risking the lives of travelers by taking groups of them just meters away from craters at distances that could be fatal if an eruption or a gas explotion occurs.
Tourist access to Poás Volcano, Costa Rica’s second most visited national park, was reopened Tuesday after phreatic eruptions prompted the evacuation on Monday of tourists and park staff.
Tourist access to the Poás Volcano National Park in Alajuela was closed Monday morning as a preliminary measure after two explosions were recorded in the volcano's crater.
Costa Rica's National Seismological Network sent a photographer in a plane over Poás National Park, northwest of the capital, to capture these images of the contrast of vegetation inside and outside the volcano crater's boundaries.
Costa Rica's Poás Volcano spewed gas and water more than 300 feet into the air on Wednesday, the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica reported. Seismologists registered three consecutive phreatic eruptions starting at 2:45 p.m.
Volcanologists from the University of Costa Rica’s National Seismological Network (RSN) are installing two video cameras and two thermal cameras at Poás Volcano, one of the most active volcanoes in the country.
An inspection by volcanologists from the University of Costa Rica's National Seismological Network last weekend found that the water level in the lagoon inside the Poás Volcano’s crater has decreased by 110 centimeters in last month.
The crater of Poas Volcano expelled material 300 meters into the air at noon on Tuesday. The phenomenon, called a phreatic explosion, occurred due to a reaction between magma and water at the southern border of the lake inside the volcano. However, this was not an eruption and the volcano did not spew lava. Instead, a column of steam, gas and other materials formed and spouted out the top of the volcano, confirmed the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica (OVSICORI).
Costa Rican officials don't mind the glowing, fuming volcano. In fact, you can take a closer look at Poás Volcano this weekend from a lookout point at the Poás National Park. The park is open daily from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
