Rincón de la Vieja shows renewed eruptive activity in summit crater zone. Ash fall, aviation hazards, and air quality risks across northwestern Costa Rica and Central America.
🌋 OPEN LIVE 3D EARTHQUAKE MAPApril 27, 2026: Rincón de la Vieja, one of Costa Rica's most active volcanoes, is showing renewed eruptive activity in its summit crater zone. Located 25 km northeast of Liberia in northwestern Guanacaste Province, the 1,895-metre stratovolcano poses immediate air quality hazards across the region and potential ash fall impacts on agriculture, infrastructure, and aviation routes. Real-time monitoring from Costa Rica's National Seismological Network (RSN) confirms elevated thermal signatures and gas emissions, triggering a precautionary alert level upgrade for surrounding communities and the Central American airspace.
Rincón de la Vieja sits atop the Cocos Plate subduction zone, where oceanic lithosphere descends beneath the Caribbean Plate at approximately 9 cm per year. This geologic setting releases fluids that trigger partial melting of the overlying mantle wedge, generating basaltic to andesitic magma that fuels the volcano's persistent hydrothermal and fumarolic systems. The current activity reflects renewed magma ascent through existing crustal pathways, driven by continued plate convergence and the release of volatiles—primarily water, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide—from degassing magma chambers at depth.
Pandita Data's volcanic monitoring simulation integrates real-time USGS Volcano Disaster Assistance Program seismometry, thermal anomaly data from NASA MODIS satellite sensors, and SO₂ column density retrievals from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P instrument. These datasets reveal magma chamber pressurization, crater-zone gas flux, and plume trajectory—enabling dynamic hazard visualization across Central America's airspace and agricultural zones.
Elevation: 1,895 m | Last Major Eruption: 2011 (phreatomagmatic) | Primary Hazards: Ash fall, lahars (during heavy rain), acid rain, aviation disruption | Nearby Population: ~180,000 within 50 km radius.
Watch live volcano thermal imaging, seismic tremor, and sulfur dioxide plume evolution on Pandita Data's Rincón de la Vieja 3D volcanic monitoring simulator.