Acatenango

Hut in the ruins of a Spanish colonial building in Antigua, with the Volcán de Fuego (left) and Acatenango (right) in the background.

The Acatenango is a stratovolcano in Guatemala near the town of Antigua with a height of 3,976 m. He is one of the highest layer volcanoes in Central America and, together with its twin, the Volcán de Fuego, the volcanic complex La Horqueta.

The volcano consists of two main craters. The structure of the northern crater, Yepocapa ( 3,880 m), ended about 20,000 years ago. The eruption center shifted in sequence to the south. It was the highest crater until today, Pico Central ( or Pico Mayor ).

The area around the Acatenango was already more than 200,000 years volcanically active, which is a time of rejuvenation outbreak centers from north to south observed. The mighty volcanic massif rises more than 3,500 feet above the Pacific Coast and south to 2,000 meters above the Guatemalan highlands in the north. The only observed in historic times eruptions took place from 1924 to 1927 and in December 1972. Phreatic eruptions This led to ash fall up to 25 km away. Over the past 80,000 years occurred numerous strong, explosive eruptions, including before 5000, before 2300, and 1,900 years ago. Francisco Vasquez reported in 1690 by "Smoke in 1661 from one side of the Fuego volcano lying ". The volcano has the potential to be huge scree avalanches, which are a constant threat to more than 100,000 residents living in the vicinity of the volcano. Deposits of such events can be observed around the volcano to a distance of 50 km, covering about 300 square kilometers of land.