Costa Rica

Because of the geographical situation of Costa Rica, the country is located in the so-called “fire belt” which girdles the earth and which contains most of the worlds active volcanoes. The country has ten volcanoes which, with the exception of some solfataras and fumaroles and very occasional steam eruptions, have lain dormant for the past twenty years. Almost all of our volcanoes are covered with woods and exuberant vegetation and in some cases – such as the Poas volcano – there are beautiful lakes within the craters themselves. The Arenal and the Irazú volcanoes are very special cases, since their upper ridges are occupied by neither vegetation nor lakes. In the first of them there is a great amount of recently-cooled lava which highlights even more its perfect cone and this stands in contrast with the neighboring Arenal Lake with its hydroelectric dam.

The Irazú volcano has striking similarity as regards shape, soil and color to the moon. In spite of wealth of volcanoes in such a small country as Costa Rica, seismic movements are very few and far between and are brought about by tectonic movements, given the nearby Cocos Plaque lying under the Pacific Ocean. However these movements (with very rare exceptions) have always been moderate intensity. The country has a n extensive seismological network equipped with the most up-to-date technology as well as an excellent School of Geology.