Turrialba Volcano

Turrialba Volcano
Turrialba volcano while in eruption, October 2014
Highest point
Elevation	3,340 metres (10,958 ft)
Coordinates	10°1′5″N 83°45′50″W / 10.01806°N 83.76389°W / 10.01806; -83.76389
Geography
Turrialba Volcano Cartago, Costa Rica
Parent range	Cordillera Central
Geology
Age of rock	1.5 million years
Mountain type	Stratovolcano
Last eruption	2022[1]
Climbing
Easiest route	hike

Turrialba Volcano is an active volcano in central Costa Rica that has been explosively eruptive in recent years including 2016^[2] and in January, March and April 2017.^[3][4][5][6] Visitors used to be able to hike down into the main crater, but increased volcanic activity in 2014–17, resulting in large clouds of volcanic ash, led to the closure of the surrounding Turrialba Volcano National Park. However, with the eruptions subsiding, the park and access to the volcano reopened on December 4, 2020.^[7][8]

The stratovolcano is 3,340 m (10,958 ft) high and is about 45 minutes from the Atlantic slope town of Turrialba. The summit has three craters, the largest of which has a diameter of 50 m (160 ft).^[9] Turrialba is adjacent to Irazú and both are among Costa Rica's largest volcanoes. Turrialba has had at least five large explosive eruptions in last 3500 years. The volcano is monitored by the Deep Earth Carbon Degassing Project.^[10]

On clear days both the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea can be seen from the summit. Below the summit is a mountain range and montane forest, with ferns, bromeliads, lichens and mosses. Most of the forest is either primary or secondary forest.^[11]

The volcano is named after its canton, Turrialba, in Costa Rica's Cartago Province. There is no clear consensus on the origin of the name Turrialba, but historians disagree with attempts to attribute the name to the patronym Torrealba (from Aragon in Spain) or from the Latin Turris alba (white tower). The general consensus is that Turrialba derives from the local Indian (Huetar language), but there is no agreement on its actual roots.