The Wonder Book of Volcanoes and EarthquakesHouston, Edwin J. (Edwin James)
Science
The Wonder Book of Volcanoes and Earthquakes
Houston, Edwin J. (Edwin James)
Earthquakes; Volcanoes
The recorded eruptions of Fuego are nearly all of the explosive type.
Among the most violent were those that occurred during 1526, 1541,
and 1581. During 1582, 1585, and 1586, there were eruptions nearly
every month, the most terrible being near Christmas day in 1586. Other
memorable eruptions occurred in 1614, 1623, 1686, and 1705, and at
other dates down to August 17th, 1860, from which date to the present
time the volcano has been quiet.
We will conclude this brief description of the volcanoes of Central
America with that of Volcán de Agua, or, as the word means, _The Water
Volcano_. It is situated in Guatemala near the coast, and is one of
the mountains that occupies the plateau on which Fuego is situated.
The Volcán de Agua is one of the most remarkable volcanoes in Central
America, standing, as it does, nearly alone, and rising to an
elevation of 3,350 metres (10,988 ft.), above the level of the sea. It
has been extinct for a long time.
It has been supposed by some, from its name, that this is a volcano
that throws out water. Others believe that the name comes from the
water produced by the melting of the snow that is collected on the
sides of the mountain. Now there almost always escapes from the
craters of volcanoes during violent eruptions immense quantities of
water vapor, which, condensing, fall as vast showers of rain that
often deluge the surrounding country. In snow-clad mountains, the
escape of lava is often attended by floods caused by the rapid melting
of the snow. The water volcano did not, however, take its name from
either of these facts, but rather because at the time of the Spanish
invasion, the crater of the mountain was occupied by a large lake, and
that during an earthquake in 1541 the wall of the crater was broken,
when the lake was poured as an immense stream of water down the side
of the mountain, overwhelming a village which was situated on this
slope. That this was the correct origin of the same may be seen from
the fact that the crater at the present time still shows the remains
of its former lake basin, and that on the sides of the broken rim an
immense ravine can be seen through which the water poured down on the
village below.
Daubeny describes this volcano as follows:
"The Volcán de Agua (Water-Volcano) is of enormous height,
being covered with eternal snow, in the latitude of 14°.
Captain Basil Hall estimates it at more than 14,000 feet,
but a recent traveller states it at 12,600. It has the form
of a blunted cone clothed with perpetual verdure to its
summit. The crater is from forty to sixty yards in depth,
and about 150 in diameter,--the sides and bottom strewed
with masses of rock, apparently showing the effects of
boiling water or of fire.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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