Nicaragua - Land of Fire & Prayer

Masaya (635 meters) is one of Nicaragua's most unusual and most active volcanoes. It is a broad, 6 x 11 kilometer basaltic caldera with steep-sided walls up to 300 meters high that is filled on its northwest end by more than a dozen vents erupted along a circular, 4-kilometer-wide fracture system. The twin volcanoes of Nindiri and Masaya, the source of historical eruptions, were constructed at the southern end of the fracture system and contain multiple summit craters. A major basaltic plinian tephra was erupted from Masaya about 6,500 years ago. Historical lava flows cover much of the caldera floor and have confined a lake to the far eastern end of the caldera. A lava flow from the 1670 eruption overtopped the north caldera rim. Masaya has been frequently active since the time of the Spanish Conquistadors, when an active lava lake prompted several attempts to extract the volcano's molten "gold." Masaya lies 20 kilometers southeast of Managua and became Nicaragua's first National Park in 1979. Nicaragua Music and Video ©2020 Richard Olsenius