Three Erupting Volcanoes in Costa Rica, and Counting: What’s Beneath it All?
Are volcanoes in Costa Rica secretly conspiring to erupt simultaneously, or is there some science behind all the recent gas, lava and ash? Scientists are looking at the connection between the recent eruptions of three volcanoes and the energy released along fault lines. Two tectonic plates meet in Costa Rica: t he Cocos and Caribbean, placing the country soundly within the globe’s ring of fire, or most active volcanic region which spans into Asia and the western U.S. The University of Costa Rica turned to experts Mauricio Mora and Guillermo Alvarado of the National Seismological Network (RSN, its initials in Spanish), who said that such activity, given the number of volcanoes in Costa Rica, is not unusual. “It is not surprising that the three volcanoes are showing so much activity,” said Mauricio Mora at a recent forum. Although the precise relationship between one volcano and another has not been identified, he explained that, “What can exist is a macro geolog...