Thread: Volcanoes in Panama?

Are there any active volcanoes in Panama?

Does Panama suffer from occasional earthquakes like most other countries in central america???

I don't think there are many earth quakes in Panama at all. There are volcanoes, but I don't know if they are active or not.

i've found that there are 3 volcanoes in Panama. here's the list:

1. Barú 3474m || Coordinates: 8.808° N 82.543° W || last erruption: 1550
2. El Valle 1185m || Coordinates: 8.58° N 80.17° W || last erruption: Holocene
3. La Yeguada 1297m || Coordinates: 8.47° N 80.82° W || last erruption: 1620

from what you can see... they've errupted loong time ago, so i'd say they are inactive.
You can also check this article about Baru Volcano: Volcano Baru, Panama - Central America

I know of a volcano in the province of Chiriqui, it's called Volcan Baru, and it's asleep (inactive). As far as I know there are no real earthquakes in Panama, but sometimes some slight "earth movements" that almost don't get noticed and never do any damage, they usually are in Veraguas, Chiriqui and Bocas del Toro.

Is there a way to know before a volcano will erupt? Or is it surprise? How much of a warning will people get before a volcano erupts?

Prediction of volcanic activity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Types of volcanic eruptions - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Volcán Barú - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Irazú Volcano - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Costa Rica)

Cheers.

It seems that they can only predict volcanic activity at about the accuracy they predict weather.

In the case of volcanoes--if you can get a few hours of notice beforehand that would save your life, awesome! The factors that go into volcano forecasting aren't even as well-understood as the ones that forecast weather--and we usually know what the weather is going to be like for the future 7-10 days.

I'll take that 6 hours and run!!

Cheers.

It's similar to hurricanes I suppose. I wonder why so many people stay behind when they know ahead of time that a natural disaster is probably going to strike.

they like extreme sports i bet that's why they're staying home. well in my country we've got Etna Volcano that's really active... small erruptions occur almoust every day... thanks god i live in the north

Originally Posted by expatplayer

It's similar to hurricanes I suppose. I wonder why so many people stay behind when they know ahead of time that a natural disaster is probably going to strike.

Mainly because hurricanes are notorious for changing direction at the last minute, endangering previously safe spots and ignoring the evacuated places. Florida is one of those kinds of places; some ppl will evacuate, and some won't--depending upon how much they trust the weather forecast. Even with Hurricane Dean a month or so ago, you had it change direction just before it hit the Yucatan peninsula; all the resorts that evacuated were passed by and the more southerly beaches were throttled. With the exception of islands, where you really don't have anyplace to go, staying in a hurricane is really the difference between a really bad thunderstorm and having your house swept away--its going to be unpleasant either way, and many feel that they will be better off protecting their possessions and house.

Earthquakes still hit everyday--earlier today there was one in the San Francisco Bay area that hit 5.6. Not a major earthquake, but a little unsettling. Even if they had been able to accurately forecast that, I doubt there would have been any call for any type of hazard prevention other than the usual (i.e. don't keep your collection of glass vases unsecured on the walls) or any reason to alarm the public when there is absolutely nothing to be done about it.

Cheers.

Would people leave if a volcano eruption was predicted? What do you think?

I would hope so! There are a lot of active volcanoes all over the planet, a few just burble quietly and don't actively explode, they just seem to 'leak.' But if one was predicted to blow, I'd think of Pompeii first, and get the heck out of Dodge!!

Volcano - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lists of volcanoes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
List of volcanoes in the United States of America - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
KÄ«lauea - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mauna Loa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cheers.

well that volcano, Vesvio or Mount Vesuvius hasn't erupted for a long time... but that erruption from 79 AD is one of the most destructive erruptions and it's probably one of the first one that we've got informations about it. it destroyed 2 towns by then: Herculaneum and Pompeii. Now they say it's pretty quiet and around him there are about 3 million people, especially in Napoli that has more than 1 mil population.

PS: there still is a city named Pompei right on the place of the old one... small town, about 30,000 citizens.

They had no idea it was going to erupt in Pompeii. You can see the people as they were when the volcano erupted, because the sudden lava preserved them just as they were when they were unexpectedly overrun by it.

hmm, it seems you know more than me. i've never been in Napoli or new Pompeii but i'll probably go there soon, because weather it's warm there. i've heard they've got a dozen of museums about Vesuvius.

Originally Posted by themark

They had no idea it was going to erupt in Pompeii. You can see the people as they were when the volcano erupted, because the sudden lava preserved them just as they were when they were unexpectedly overrun by it.

That's my point about 'think of Pompeii'--witness the destruction of that volcano, and if you ever got a volcano warning anywhere in the world--you'd run! At that time, ~80ad, I imagine that they still thought the 'volcano god' was a real thing. I'm well aware that it hasn't erupted violently in years, and when I visited several years ago, I was struck by the images burned into the town's walls. Creepy, and a definite deterrent to living on the slopes of an active volcano!

Cheers.

Here's something I was reading earlier: Indonesian volcano critical, may erupt: scientist | Science | Reuters

This part of the world has been plagued by massive earthquakes (causing the 2004 Xmas tsunami) and volcanoes (witness Krakatoa) since time immemorial.


Cheers.

I didn't know Panama has some volcanoes around, has anyone visit those volcanoes before? Speaking of Indonesia that's just beside my homeland and here we don't really have much volcanoes compare to our neighbor.