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 cattle grazing in the area. The nearest community, Agua Fría, has been evacuated as a precaution, and communities as far as 30 km from the volcano have reported ash falls and the Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center reported an ash column rising 2.4 km above Mount Telica and drifting about 100 km to the west.

Villagers inspect a Cow killed by a rock thrown from Mount Telica in Nicaragua on Sunday 22 November 2015. Viva Nicaragua.

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.

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Eruption on Mount Telica, Nicaragua.

A small explosion to place on Mount Telica in northwest Nicaragua at about 6.50 am local time (about 12.50 pm GMT) on Wednesday 25 September 2013, producing an ash column approximately 1.5 km in height. There has been no further activity on the volcano, but local authorities are monitoring the situation closely. This is the first eruption on Telica this year, however it has undergone bouts of eruptive behavior several times over the last few years, and a number of Earhquake swarms this year have suggested that further eruptions were likely.

A small eruption on Mount Telica in November 1976. Jamie Incer/Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program.

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.

The approximate location of Mount Telica. Google Maps.

See also Seismic activity on Mount Momotombo in western Nicaragua, Seismic activity beneath Apoyeque and Eruption on San Cristobal, Nicaragua.

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