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Volcán de Agua (also known as Hunahpú by Maya) is a stratovolcano located in the departments of Sacatepéquez and Escuintla in Guatemala. At 3,760 m (12,340 ft), Agua Volcano towers more than 3,500 m (11,500 ft) above the Pacific coastal plain to the south and 2,000 m (6,600 ft) above the Guatemalan Highlands to the north. It dominates the local landscape except when hidden by cloud cover. The volcano is within 5 to 10 km (3.1 to 6.2 mi) of the city of Antigua Guatemala and several other large towns situated on its northern apron. These towns have a combined population of nearly 100,000. It is within about 20 km (12 mi) of Escuintla (population, c.150,000) to the south.[2] Coffee is grown on the volcano's lower slopes.

Volcán de Agua
Volcán de Agua, seen from Antigua, Guatemala, with temporary street carpeting for Easter celebrations in foreground.
Highest point
Elevation3,760 m (12,340 ft)[1]
Coordinates14°27′54″N 90°44′35″W[1]
Naming
English translationVolcano of Water
Language of nameSpanish
Geography
Volcán de Agua
Guatemala
Geology
Mountain typeStratovolcano
Volcanic arc/beltCentral America Volcanic Arc
Last eruptionLate Pleistocene

Brief description and history


Volcan de Agua as seen from Santa María de Jesús in 1895. Photograph by Alfred Percival Maudslay.[3]
Volcan de Agua as seen from Santa María de Jesús in 1895. Photograph by Alfred Percival Maudslay.[3]

The local Kaqchikel people have always called the volcano Hunapú "place of flowers" or Jun Ajpu' "one hunter" (The calendar date for the sacred site; a typical method for naming sacred sites in Mayan cosmovision) in current Kaqchikel orthography.[citation needed] The Spanish conquistadors also called it Hunapú until a lahar from the volcano on September 10, 1541[4] destroyed the original capital of Guatemala (now known as Ciudad Vieja) and the city was moved to the current site of Antigua Guatemala following this disaster. Among the casualties was the governor Beatriz de la Cueva.[5] As the lahar produced a destructive flood of water, this prompted the modern name "Volcán de Agua" meaning "Volcano of Water", in contrast to the nearby "Volcán de Fuego" or "Volcano of Fire". The Kaqchikels call Volcan de Fuego Chi Gag, which translates to "where the fire is" or Chi Q'aq' in current Kaqchikel orthography.

The volcano was active in the late Pleistocene between 80,000 and 10,000 years ago,[2] but has not erupted since then.[1] Despite the lack of eruptive activity, the volcano can still produce debris flows and lahars that inundate nearby populated areas.[2] This was proven by the fact that on 11 September 1541, newly founded villa of Santiago de los Caballeros was ruined by a "formidable landslide that came down Volcán de Agua; the mudslide brought along heavy rocks that destroyed part of the buildings and damaged the rest".[6] The city was destroyed and the survivors had no direction, since governor Beatriz de la Cueva died during the disaster, which took place shortly after her husband, Adelantado Pedro de Alvarado, died and she was appointed governor by the Ayuntamiento (English:City Hall).[7] Beatriz de la Cueva had been beside herself with grief and on 9 September 1541, when she had signed the Cabildo documents, she did so as "la sin ventura" (English: the hapless one), a phrase that turned out to be prophetic.[8] In the aftermath Beatriz de la Cueva was blamed for the disaster as it was considered to be a godly punishment for her sins. Additionally her fate became a cautionary tale about giving women positions in government particularly when many qualified men were available.[9]

Volcan de Agua as seen from Ciudad Vieja in 2007.
Volcan de Agua as seen from Ciudad Vieja in 2007.

In 1895 Anne Cary Maudslay and her husband, archeologist Alfred Percival Maudslay visited the Antigua Guatemala region as part of a journey through Guatemala's Maya and colonial archeological monuments, and climbed the Volcán de Agua; she wrote a book called A Glimpse at Guatemala where she explains that water from the volcano crater could not have destroyed the old Santiago:

The cause of this catastrophe is usually said to have been the bursting of the side of a lake which had been formed in the crater of the extinct Volcán de Agua; but an examination of the crater shows this explanation to be improbable, as the break in the crater-wall is in an opposite direction, and no water flowing from it could have reached the town. Moreover, there is no evidence to show that the deeper portion of the crater, which is still intact, has held water since the reported outbreak. Indeed, an accumulation of water during the exceptionally heavy rain, through some temporary obstruction in one of the deep worn gullies which indent the beautiful slope of that great mountain, and a subsequent landslip would probably account for the damage done without the aid of either an eruption of water from the crater or the supernatural appearances which are duly noted by the old chroniclers.[10]

The volcano was last blanketed by snowfall in January 1967.[citation needed]

The Volcán de Agua has been declared a protected area in 1956 and covers an area of 12,600 hectares (31,000 acres).[11]

On 21 January 2012, 12,000 Guatemalans formed a human chain all the way to the peak Volcan de Agua in a protest against domestic violence.[12]




See also



Notes and references



References


  1. "Agua". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution.
  2. S.P. Schilling, J.W. Vallance, O. Matías, and M.M. Howell, 2001, Lahar Hazards at Agua Volcano, Guatemala: USGS Open-File Report 01-432
  3. Maudslay & Maudslay 1899, p. 28.
  4. Recinos and Goetz, p. 33 "Recinos gives 2 Tihax (Etz'nab') - September 10, 1541(Julian). The date which marked the destruction of the city of Guatemala founded at the foot of the Volcano of Agua. "After a period of heavy rain there was an earthquake and then a flood of water (a lahar) that destroyed the old city of Guatemala.
  5. Asselbergs 2004
  6. Juarros 1818, p. 262.
  7. Juarros 1818, p. 263.
  8. Maudslay & Maudslay 1899, p. 25.
  9. Petit-Breuilh Sepúlveda, María Eugenia (2004). "Análisis de las erupciones en hispanoamérica durante los últimos cinco siglos". La historia eruptiva de los volcanes hispanoamericanos (Siglos XVI al XX): El modelo chileno (in Spanish). Huelva, Spain: Casa de los volcanes. pp. 75–76. ISBN 84-95938-32-4.
  10. Maudslay & Maudslay 1899, p. 26.
  11. CONAP (January 2011). "Listado de Áreas Protegidas" (in Spanish). conap.gob.gt. Archived from the original (xls) on 8 October 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
  12. "Guatemalans climb volcano in protest against violence". BBC News. 22 January 2012.

Bibliography





На других языках


[de] Volcán de Agua

Der Volcán de Agua (dt. „Wasservulkan“) ist ein seit Mitte des 16. Jahrhunderts inaktiver Stratovulkan nahe der Stadt Antigua Guatemala. Seine Höhe beträgt 3760 m. Der Vulkankegel ist symmetrisch und stark bewaldet. Er liegt gegenüber den Zwillings-Vulkanen Fuego und Acatenango. Der Vulkankomplex wird durch basaltisch-andesitische Ablagerungen gebildet. Sechs kleine Seitenkrater befinden sich an der Nordwest-Flanke, zwei weitere an der Süd-Flanke. Das symmetrische Profil des Vulkans deutet auf ein relativ junges Alter hin, wobei bis anhin keine Ausbrüche datiert wurden respektive bekannt sind.
- [en] Volcán de Agua

[es] Volcán de Agua

El volcán de Agua, también conocido como Hunahpú por los mayas, es un volcán inactivo situado entre el municipio de Santa María de Jesús en el departamento de Sacatepéquez, el municipio de Escuintla y el municipio de Palin ambos en el departamento de Escuintla en Guatemala, a pocos kilómetros de la ciudad colonial de Antigua Guatemala. Alcanza una altitud de 3760 m s. n. m.,[1] y su última erupción data de 1541. En las faldas del volcán hay cultivos de café más arriba cultivos de maíz y cerca de la cima hay bosque virgen. En la cima se pueden hallar concentraciones de agua, en el área de concavidad del cráter, y repetidores de telecomunicaciones. La población más cercana a la cumbre es el pueblo de Santa María de Jesús, hasta donde llega la carretera, y de donde generalmente se inicia la ascensión. Para llegar a la cima existen veredas.

[fr] Volcán de Agua

Le Volcán de Agua est un stratovolcan du Guatemala inactif depuis environ 10 000 ans. Il a pourtant émis au XVIe siècle une importante coulée de boue qui détruisit une cité entière. D'un autre côté, ses flancs fertiles sont propices à l'agriculture et sont largement cultivés.

[ru] Агуа (вулкан)

Агуа (исп. Agua) — вулкан в Центральной Америке, в департаменте Сакатепекес, Гватемала.



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