San Salvador Volcano - San Salvador, El Salvador
Posted by: Metro2
N 13° 44.071 W 089° 16.790
16P E 253460 N 1519530
The San Salvador Volcano has a younger volcano, El Boqueron, which formed within its crater- So...this is two volcanos in one!
Waymark Code: WMH9TT
Location: El Salvador
Date Posted: 06/12/2013
Views: 4
El Salvador has a huge concentration of volcanos...and in the center of San Salvador...this volcano dominates the landscape...and is really the older of two volcanos which have formed here. Whereas the San Salvador volcano is the oldest, El Boqueron is the younger and needs to be visited closeup to see it's huge crater. There is a park here to do just that and the coordinates for this Waymark are within this park at lookout #2. The photo of the volcano from a distance are obviously taken from far away...at the Cuscatlan Stadium to be exact. See the Waymark for the Stadium at (
visit link)
Wikipedia has an article that discusses both volcanos together (
visit link) and informs us:
"The San Salvador Volcano (also known as Quetzaltepec) is a stratovolcano situated northwest to the city of San Salvador. The crater has been nearly filled with a relatively newer edifice, the Boquerón volcano. The city of San Salvador is adjacent to the volcano and the western section of the city actually lies among its slopes. Because of this close proximity, any geological activity of the volcano, whether eruptive or not, has the potential to result in catastrophic destruction and death to the city. Despite this, the volcano is iconic of the city, and several TV and radio antennas are situated on the El Picacho peaks and the crater of Boqueron. El Picacho, the prominent peak is the highest elevation (1,960 meters altitude)...
The Boquerón edifice formed between 40,000 and 1580 years ago, filling up the G-1 eruption crater. the lavas of the Boquerón edifice contain more alkali element and iron oxide than the lavas of the san salvador edifice, allowing for a clear chemical distinction. Around 800 years ago, the present day crater was formed in a violent explosion. The crater, which gives it the present name (Boquerón means "big mouth" in Spanish) is 1.5 km in diameter and 500m deep. Within the crater around the upper walls, crops are cultivated by the locals who live on the volcano.
The magma chamber which the volcano sits upon contains a number of fissures which protrude along the flanks and sides of the volcano. The northwest (N40W) fissure has been the most active recently, with such significant eruptive events, such as the Loma Caldera eruption which buried the ancient village of Ceren and the eruption of El Playon (1658–71) which buried the town of Nexapa. The citizens relocated to Nejapa and nowadays the eruption is celebrated annually.
The most recent eruption in 1917 caused a flank eruption on the volcano along the N40W fissure. During this eruption, the crater lake inside the Boqueron evaporated and a cinder cone appeared, christened 'Boqueroncito'."