Arenal Volcano

Arenal Volcano stands in the San Carlos canton of Alajuela Province, northwestern Costa Rica, about 90 kilometers northwest of San Jose, reaching 1,633 meters with a crater 140 meters across. It is an andesitic stratovolcano built from alternating layers of lava, ash and rock, part of the Central America Volcanic Arc, and is geologically Costa Rica's youngest volcano at less than 7,500 years old. Arenal lay dormant for centuries before erupting without warning on July 29, 1968, an eruption that destroyed three towns and killed 87 people; the eruption that followed continued from 1968 to 2010, making it the tenth-longest volcanic eruption recorded anywhere since 1750. It has been dormant since 2010, though research on its open-vent magmatic system indicates future activity remains likely given its persistent magma supply. This entity documents Arenal Volcano specifically as a geological formation, Costa Rica's youngest stratovolcano, whose 1968 to 2010 eruption ranks among the ten longest recorded since 1750.