Mount Momotombo in Nicaragua underwent a series of explosive eruptions on Sunday 3 December 2015, with an initial eruption that produced incandescent (glowing) material slightly after 4.20 am local time, and two further explosions in the afternoon, slightly before and after 2.30 pm. The volcano also underwent a series of explosive eruptions on 1 December last year (2015), the first such events since 1905.
Webcam image of Mount Momotombo slightly after 2.30 pm on Sunday 3 December 2015. Instituto Nicaragüense de Estudios Territoriales.
Although the 1 December eruption was the first explosive eruption on the volcano since 1905, a
small lava flow was recorded in 1980 and Earthquakes and gas emissions
have been recorded on several occasions since.Eruptions on
Momotombo are rare, they can be severe and are a cause for concern. In
1610 an eruption on the volcano led to the destruction of the city of
León on the shore of Lago de Managua, and while it was rebuilt as the
modern city of León about 30 km to the west, the modern town of Puerto
Momotombo has grown around the ruins.
The location of the Mount Momotombo. Google Maps.
Nicaragua
is located on the southern edge of the Caribbean Plate, which underlies
Central America as well as the Caribbean Sea. To the south the Cocos
Plate, which underlies part of the eastern Pacific, is being subducted
beneath the Caribbean Plate along the Middle American Trench, passing
under Central America as it is sinks into the Earth. As it is subducted
the Cocos Plate is being partially melted by the heat of the planet's
interior and the friction caused by its dragging under the Caribbean
Plate, producing liquid magma, which then rises through the overlying
plate fueling the volcanoes of Central America.
Diagrammatic
representation of the Cocos Plate passing beneath the Central American
Plate, showing how it fuels the volcanoes of Central America. VCS Mining.
See also...
Eruption on Mount Momotombo, Nicaragua. Authorities in Nicaragua have reported an eruption on Mount Momotombo, a
volcano in the east of the country, on Tuesday 1 December 2015. The
eruption produced a column of gas and ash that rose about a kilometer
over the summit of the volcano, and people in several...
Cattle killed by eruption on Mount Telica, Nicaragua. Mount Telica, an active volcano in northwest Nicaragua, underwent an
eruptive episode on Sunday 22 November 2015, with two rapid explosions
reported shortly after 8.45 am, which threw fragments of rock up to 900 m
from the crater, resulting in the deaths of several... 
One dead after Central American Earthquake. The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 7.3 Earthquake at a depth of 40 km, roughly 67 km offshore of the Nicaraguan coastal resort...
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