How many volcanoes have erupted in Costa Rica in recent times?

In historic times, at least 6 volcanoes have been active in Costa Rica, including Poas, Turrialba, and Rincón de la Vieja volcanoes. A total of 116 eruptions have been witnessed and documented since 1723.

When was the last volcanic eruption in Costa Rica?

The last volcanic eruption in Costa Rica was from Poas volcano during 2023 - 2024.

When was the first documented volcanic eruption in Costa Rica?

The first historically documented eruption occurred 1723 from Irazu volcano .

How often do volcanoes in Costa Rica erupt?

Since 1723, Costa Rica has seen at least 116 historically documented eruptions. This means that a volcano erupts on average every 2.6 years.

How active are the volcanoes in Costa Rica?

Costa Rica is volcanically extremely active: Since 1900, at least 6 volcanoes in Costa Rica have been active. Almost every year, at least one volcano has erupted in Costa Rica. The last volcano to erupt in Costa Rica was Poas volcano . Its was active from 2023 until 2024 and ended 2 years ago.

When was the largest volcanic eruption in Costa Rica?

The largest eruption in Costa Rica in historic times was from Turrialba volcano . It occurred during 2015 - 2019. It ranks as a "vulcanian" eruption with a magnitude 3 on the VEI (Volcanic Explosivity Index) scale.

How frequent are earthquakes in Costa Rica?

Costa Rica has a high level of seismic activity. Based on data from the past 25 years and our earthquake archive back to 1900, there are about 3,000 quakes on average per year in Costa Rica. Costa Rica has had at least 26 quakes above magnitude 6 since 2000, which suggests that larger earthquakes of this size occur infrequently, probably on average approximately every 1 to 5 years.

How many earthquakes occur every year in Costa Rica?

On average, Costa Rica has about 1,400 quakes of magnitude 3 or higher per year (Mag 4+: 180 quakes per year, Mag 5+: 7.6 quakes per year).

Which was the deadliest earthquake in Costa Rica since 1900?

The deadliest earthquake in Costa Rica since 1900 was a strong earthquake (magnitude unknown) in Costa Rica, Provincia de Cartago on Apr, 13, 1910. It resulted in 1,750 fatalities and an unknown number of injured people.

Which was the earthquake that caused most damage in Costa Rica since 1900?

The earthquake that caused most damage was the magnitude 7.6 earthquake in Costa Rica, Provincia de Limon on Apr, 22, 1991. It caused 90 fatalities and estimated $510 million US Dollars (today's equivalent) in total economic damage.

How many people were killed by earthquakes in Costa Rica since 1900?

Since 1900, at least 15 earthquakes claimed an estimated total of 2,658 fatalities in Costa Rica.

How much damage did earthquakes cause in Costa Rica since 1900?

There were 22 damaging or deadly quakes during this period that caused economic losses of approx. $644.7 million US Dollars combined.

Volcanoes, Eruptions and Earthquakes in Costa Rica

Date	Volcano	VEI	Region	Deaths	Damage
2021 Jun 28 - ongoing	Rincón de la Vieja	2	Costa Rica
2023 Dec 1 - 2024 May 5	Poas	1	Costa Rica
2023 Aug 2 - Aug 11	Poas	1	Costa Rica
2022 Jul 17	Turrialba	1	Costa Rica
2022 Apr 6	Poas Crater lake - Fumarola Naranja	1	Costa Rica
2021 Nov 3 - 2022 Feb 28	Turrialba	1	Costa Rica
2021 Jun 13 - Jul 23	Turrialba	1	Costa Rica
2020 Jan 30 - Dec 13	Rincón de la Vieja	2	Costa Rica
2020 Jun 18 - Aug 24	Turrialba	1	Costa Rica
2015 Mar 8 - 2019 Dec 7	Turrialba Cráter Central, Cráter Oeste	3	Costa Rica
2019 Feb 7 - Sep 30	Poas	2	Costa Rica
2018 Jul 28 - 2019 Jun 11	Rincón de la Vieja	1	Costa Rica
2017 May 23 - 2018 Mar 15 ±3 d.	Rincón de la Vieja Crater lake	1	Costa Rica
2017 Apr 12 - Nov 6	Poas Laguna Caliente Crater	1	Costa Rica
2016 Jun 5 - Aug 16	Poas Lake in summit crater	1	Costa Rica
2015 Jun 16 - 2016 May 1	Rincón de la Vieja Crater lake	1	Costa Rica
2014 Oct 29 - Dec 8	Turrialba West Crater	2	Costa Rica
2014 Sep 17 - Oct 24	Rincón de la Vieja Crater lake	1	Costa Rica
2009 Nov 16 ±15 d. - 2014 Oct 13	Poas	1	Costa Rica
2013 May 21 - Jun 4	Turrialba West Crater	1	Costa Rica
2012 Oct 17	Rincón de la Vieja Crater lake	1	Costa Rica
2012 Feb 19 - Apr 14	Rincón de la Vieja Crater lake	1	Costa Rica
2012 Jan 12 - Jan 18	Turrialba West Crater (SE flank)	2	Costa Rica
2011 Aug 22 - Sep 27	Rincón de la Vieja Crater lake	1	Costa Rica
2011 Jan 14	Turrialba West Crater	1	Costa Rica
1968 Jul 29 - 2010 Dec 16 ±15 d.	Arenal W flank & summit	3	Costa Rica
2010 Jan 5 - Mar 7 ?	Turrialba SW crater	2	Costa Rica
2000 Aug 23 (eruption 1968 Jul 29 - 2010 Dec 16 ±15 d.)	Arenal	3	Costa Rica	2		Info
2000 Aug 23: A guide and two tourists were engulfed in a pyroclastic flow 2.3 km from the summit; the guide died that night, and one of the tourists, a young girl, died of burns about two weeks later. (reference #9675) Cited references #9675 Siebert, Lee, Tom Simkin, Paul Kimberly (2010): Fatalities & Evacuations, Volcanoes of the World, Third Edition, Geoscience Press, Inc., University of California Press, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., p. 329-347. Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), Global Significant Earthquake Database. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K
1968 Jul 29 (eruption 1968 Jul 29 - 2010 Dec 16 ±15 d.)	Arenal	3	Costa Rica	80	light	Info
1968 Jul 29: 80 (+/-5) killed in first 3 days; many by pyroclastic flows, but perhaps half by ballistic blocks. Village of Tabacon nearly obliterated by impact craters. One source reports 78 killed in pyroclastic flows. Other sources give total ranging from 76 to > 100. (Ref #1412) An explosion with burning clouds and lava flows made Pueblo Nuevo disappear and left about 200 victims. It affected the agricultural areas of Tilaran and San Carlos. Estimated damage losses of 100 million colones. (Ref #13481) NOTE: It is unclear if the amount of damages reflects the entire eruptive period and if the value of the colon is based in 1968 or 1989. Cited references #1412 Simkin, Tom, and Lee Siebert with the collaboration of Russell Blong, Jonathan Dehn, Christopher Newhall, Roland Pool, and Thomas C. Stein (1994): Volcanoes of the World, Second Edition, A Regional Directory, Gazetteer, and Chronology of Volcanism During the Last 10,000 Years, Geoscience Press, Inc., Tucson, Arizona, in association with Smithsonian Institution, Global Volcanism Program, Washington, D.C., p. 164-176. #13481 La Republica (Costa Rica) (1989): Lluvia ácida podría causar pérdidas millonarias. Published 19 February 1989. Link. Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), Global Significant Earthquake Database. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K

Date and Time	Mag / Depth	Nearest Volcano / Location
Nov 24, 08:48 pm (GMT -6)	4.4 10 km	106 km (66 mi) S of Irazu	North Pacific Ocean, Provincia de Puntarenas, 129 km south of San Jose, Costa Rica I FELT IT - 2 reports	Info
Sunday, November 23, 2025 GMT (1 quake)
Nov 23, 12:41 am (GMT -6)	5.6 24 km	142 km (88 mi) S of Irazu	55 km Al Oeste De Drake, Osa. I FELT IT - 5 reports	Info
Saturday, November 22, 2025 GMT (3 quakes)
Nov 22, 01:39 pm (GMT -6)	4.4 1 km	149 km (93 mi) S of Irazu	72 km Al Suroeste De Dominical, Costa Rica I FELT IT	Info
Nov 22, 12:41 pm (GMT -6)	5.1 8 km	138 km (86 mi) S of Irazu	67 km WSW of Puerto Cortés, Costa Rica I FELT IT - 25 reports	Info
Nov 22, 04:29 am (GMT -6)	4.5 222 km	23 km (14 mi) NE of Rincón de la Vieja	11 km NW of San José, Costa Rica I FELT IT	Info
Friday, November 21, 2025 GMT (1 quake)
Nov 21, 01:47 pm (Costa Rica)	4.5 40 km	106 km (66 mi) SW of Irazu	North Pacific Ocean, 55 km west of San Isidro, Provincia de San Jose, Costa Rica I FELT IT - 8 reports	Info

Date	Mag	Region	Deaths	Damage
2009 Jan 8	6.1	La Paz	23	heavy	Info
1991 Apr 22	7.6	Limon, Pandora; Panama	90	very heavy	Info
1973 Apr 14	6.5	Tilaran, Arenal, Rio Chiquito	26	unknown	Info
1955 Sep 1	5.8	Costa Rica	10	moderate	Info
1952 Dec 30	?	Costa Rica	29	unknown	Info
1910 May 4	?	Cartago, San Jose	700	heavy	Info
1910 Apr 13	?	Cartago	1,750	moderate	Info

Poás Volcano (Costa Rica) activity update Nov 26, 2025 - Continuing eruption

Thursday, Nov 27, 2025 | 4 hours ago · VN

The Observatorio Vulcanológico y Sismológico de Costa Rica - Universidad Nacional (OVSICORI-UNA) reported that the eruption continued at Poás on 26 November 2025 (local). The alert level remained at "…

Rincón de la Vieja Volcano (Costa Rica) activity update Nov 26, 2025 - Unrest

Thursday, Nov 27, 2025 | 4 hours ago · VN

The Observatorio Vulcanológico y Sismológico de Costa Rica - Universidad Nacional (OVSICORI-UNA) reported that unrest continued at Rincón de la Vieja on 26 November 2025 (local). The alert level remai…

Turrialba Volcano (Costa Rica) activity update Nov 26, 2025 - Unrest

Thursday, Nov 27, 2025 | 4 hours ago · VN

The Observatorio Vulcanológico y Sismológico de Costa Rica - Universidad Nacional (OVSICORI-UNA) reported that unrest continued at Turrialba on 26 November 2025 (local). The alert level remained at "L…

Poás Volcano (Costa Rica) activity update Nov 25, 2025 - Continuing eruption

Wednesday, Nov 26, 2025 | 1 day ago · VN

The Observatorio Vulcanológico y Sismológico de Costa Rica - Universidad Nacional (OVSICORI-UNA) reported that the eruption continued at Poás on 25 November 2025 (local). The alert level remained at "Level 2 - Warning" (on a 0–4 level scale). The aviation alert level remained at "Yellow" (level 2 on…

Rincón de la Vieja Volcano (Costa Rica) activity update Nov 25, 2025 - Unrest

Wednesday, Nov 26, 2025 | 1 day ago · VN

The Observatorio Vulcanológico y Sismológico de Costa Rica - Universidad Nacional (OVSICORI-UNA) reported that unrest continued at Rincón de la Vieja on 25 November 2025 (local). The alert level remai…