[NASA] Ahuachapán and Its Restive Neighbors

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3. Ahuachapán and Its Restive…

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The geologically active area around Ahuachapán, El Salvador, includes an arced line of volcanoes, visible in this image acquired on November 25, 2024, by the 

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 (Operational Land Imager) on 

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.

NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison

Volcanic activity takes on many forms in western El Salvador. The land near the city of Ahuachapán is pockmarked with craters and covered with recent lava flows. Meanwhile, a

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feeds geysers, heats

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, and powers a long-operating energy plant. The area is part of a volcanic landscape that stretches more than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) along the Pacific coast from Guatemala to Panama, composing the 

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. 

On the right side of the image, Santa Ana stands at 2,381 meters (7,812 feet) above sea level as the country’s tallest volcano. Its summit features several crescent-shaped ridges surrounding a hot, acidic

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. The volcano remains active, with small to moderate explosive eruptions recorded since the 16th century. Its most recent significant eruption, 

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, launched a dense gas and ash column high in the air and sent

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down its slopes.

In 1770, another volcano began forming on Santa Ana’s southern flank.

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grew into a steep-sided stratovolcano through frequent eruptions over the next two centuries. Its regular activity—including

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and lava fountains—earned it the nickname “Lighthouse of the Pacific,” as people at sea were reported to witness its glowing emanations. The “lighthouse” has since powered down, with Izalco’s most recent activity occurring in 1966. 

A line of forested, dimpled stratovolcano peaks arcing across the scene forms the Apaneca Range. There are no recorded eruptions of these volcanoes in the Holocene (the past 11,700 years), but persistent geothermal activity along the range manifests in the form of

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, hot springs, and steam vents. Sudden and deadly steam explosions occasionally occur in the area, including a

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near the range’s Laguna Verde volcano. More recently, a

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near a popular hot springs facility spurred evacuations and damaged infrastructure.

Though sometimes hazardous, the region’s heat source has also been tapped for

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. The Ahuachapán Geothermal Power Plant has operated since 1975, leveraging groundwater naturally heated to around

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(480 degrees Fahrenheit) and local fault systems. By the early 1980s, the plant was producing

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of El Salvador’s electricity. Some

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that this high level of production coincided with a ******* of civil unrest and population growth in the region.

NASA Earth Observatory image by Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the 

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. Story by Lindsey Doermann.

Downloads

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November 25, 2024

JPEG (32.61 MB)

References & Resources

• Jiménez Majano, J.E. (2025)
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  . Proceedings, 50th Workshop on Geothermal Reservoir Engineering.
• NASA Earth Observatory (2026, March 9)
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  . Accessed May 4, 2026.
• Smithsonian Institution Global Volcanism Program,
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  . Accessed May 4, 2026.
• Smithsonian Institution Global Volcanism Program,
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  . Accessed May 4, 2026.
• Volcano Live (2026, February)
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  . Accessed May 4, 2026.

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