Volcanic Activity In El Salvador

El Salvador has 20 volcanoes in that have been active before but that are now mostly dormant. There are two volcanoes that have had recent activity and that are potentially dangerous. The two volcanoes are the Izalco (Strato volcano) and the San Miguel volcanoes which is also a strato volcano. These volcanoes belong to the circum-pacific ring of fire and are results of the oblique subduction of the oceanic Coco’s plate under the Caribbean tectonic plate. The Izalco volcano is the youngest of the 20 volcanoes found in the country and formed in 1770. This volcano is similar to the Stromboli volcano found in Italy because its frequent Strombolian eruptions that provide a natural night time beacon for ships. The last time that it erupted was in 1966 when it begun to spill lava from the south-east flank and it traveled about 1.2 kilometers in length. Equally, the San Miguel volcano is located in the eastern part of the country and is a symmetrical stratovolcano. It rises 7,000 ft. and 2130 meters above sea level and the volcanoes summit is deprived of any vegetation because of the frequent eruptions but the flanks are covered with coffee plantation. The most recent eruption occurred in 2002, when gas and steam emission with some ashes covering the sky were observed in the area, reaching a few 100 meters above the summit crater.

 

  

 

 

As far as El Salvador’s preparedness for any volcanic activity  goes they have actually implemented a National civil protection system and have an orange as well a yellow alert system for the department of San Miguel’s volcano and its surrounding communities in the past few years. The Salvadoran Red Cross has about 60 branches in the country that are trained in emergency and disaster preparedness relief. In addition they also have a stock of relief items to be able to provide immediate relief to the people that need it. Overall, my country’s government has taken safe measures to teach people about the importance of volcanic awareness and hopefully with all of these precautions they will be able to prevent future structural loss and more importantly human loss.    

Works Cited:

http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/el-salvador.html

http://reliefweb.int/report/el-salvador/el-salvador-volcanic-eruption-emergency-plan-action-epoa-dref-operation-mdrsv006