Updated June 29, 2021
Rincón de la Vieja Volcano Erupts
The Rincón de la Vieja Volcano in Costa Rica erupted on June 28, 2021 at 5:42am. The eruption lasted 90 seconds and created a dense plume of gases, water, and ash. You could see the plume from several different volcanoes across Costa Rica. The ash plume dropped its particulates to the North, Northwest, and West of the crater. The eruption also caused volcanic lahars to flow down the nearby rivers.
Locals and visitors in Costa Rica do not need to worry about this most recent eruption, as it has not affected the nearby cities, the most notable of which is Liberia, in Guanacaste.
About Rincón de la Vieja Volcano
Rincón de la Vieja is a volcano located in Guanacaste, near the border with Alajuela Province. It is just one in a line of volcanoes in this part of Costa Rica and is neighbored by Orosi Volcano and Cacao Volcano to the Northwest and Miravalles Volcano and Tenorio Volcano to the Southeast. It is located in Rincón de la Vieja National Park, which is home to many different hiking trails. It should be noted that the hiking trail to the summit of Rincón de la Vieja Volcano has been closed for the last decade.
Volcanic eruptions are nothing new for Costa Rica. This volcano is just one of five recently active volcanoes in Costa Rica, all of which are closely monitored by OVSICORI, the official organization in charge of observing and monitoring volcanic and seismic activity in Costa Rica. The other active volcanoes are Turrialba Volcano, Poás Volcano, Irazú Volcano, and Arenal Volcano, though the last two are currently dormant. You can see current and past activity for these five volcanoes on the OSVICORI site, which is in Spanish, though the graph is very clear.