Lahar Hazards at Mombacho Volcano, Nicaragua

Summary

Mombacho volcano, at 1350 m, is situated on the shores of Lake Nicaragua and about 12 km south of Granada, a city of about 90,000 inhabitants. Many more people live a few kilometers southeast of Granada in ‘las Isletas de Granada and the nearby ‘Peninsula de Aseses. These areas are formed of deposits of a large debris avalanche (a fast moving avalanche of rock and debris) from Mombacho. Several smaller towns with population, in the range of 5,000 to 12,000 inhabitants are to the northwest and the southwest of Mombacho volcano. Though the volcano has apparently not been active in historical time, or about the last 500 years, it has the potential to produce landslides and debris flows (watery flows of mud, rock, and debris—also known as lahars when they occur on a volcano) that could inundate these nearby populated areas.

First posted November 20, 2013