Nicaragua's Masaya Volcano A record of the Masaya volcano dates to the Spanish Conquistadors (1519‐ 1533). They conquered lands known today as Nicaragua. Indigenous peoples inhabited the land. The native inhabitants felt the brunt of the conquests by the Spanish and were nearly eliminated due to war, disease and slavery. <Museum> The Spaniards referred to Masaya's lava lake that has appeared and disappeared over many centuries as "La Boca del Infierno," translated, "The Mouth of Hell." <volcanocafe.org> Masaya Volcano is located within the El Ventarron or Masaya caldera and Masaya Volcano National Park which covers 21 square miles. There are four main craters within the caldera. They are Nindiri, San Pedro, Santiago and Masaya. Masaya, a basaltic volcano, is the most active and is considered a pyroclastic shield type of volcano. The Masaya crater's elevation is 2,083 feet and is approximately 12 miles from the capital, Managua. <vianica.com> Lake Masaya, shown below, is between Managua and Granada and is part of the Masaya Volcano National Park. The lava lake is one of a few in the world. Momotombo volcano (4,255 feet) is probably the best known of the volcanos in the country. It is a symmetrical stratovolcano on the northwestern part of Lake Managua. It has been dormant for more than 100 years but has displayed activity recently in the form of high‐temperature fumaroles (vents) that have emitted gas and steam. <volcanodiscovery.com> Earthquakes are common in Nicaragua. Within a year, the country may experience as many as 100 earthquakes ranging from 4 to 6 or higher. <earthquaketrack.com> Historically, the Richter Scale has been used to measure an earthquake's size. It was developed by Charles Richter during the 1930's. Today scientists are using what they call a moment magnitude or Mw scale. It is considered more precise. It deals with slip on a fault, seismogram and geodetic measurement. <usgs.gov/faqs/> On April 25, 2019, we visited Masaya Volcano. There was a Sulphur dioxide (SO2) emitted from the volcano in the form of gas and smoke. Our guides suggested staying there no more than 15 minutes due to the gas. We visited Hawaii's Kilauea volcano on April 10, 2018. The sulfuric gas at Masaya was not as pungent on that day as it was during our Hawaii visit. Kilauea's eruption on May 3, 2018 and subsequent eruptions destroyed more than 600 homes, evacuation of more than 17,000 people and created a lava flow that covered 8 square miles. <livescience.com> Masaya's volcano has similar concerns since over two million people live within 10 miles of the volcano in the capital city of Managua. Closer to the volcano an early warning system has been developed due to the constant fear of eruptions. <blog.mountainhardwear.com> Pele, the goddess of volcanoes, her hair is shown below. The matter is vitrified lava that look like threads of hair. The threads are formed when bubbles of lava burst, blown into the wind, stretched and cooled. Like asbestos and fiberglass, the fibers are considered hazardous if inhaled or rubbed into the eyes or skin. <spookgeology.com> Sources: Tour of Masaya Volcano (April 25, 2019), Museum guided tour, https://www.volcanocafe.org/masaya‐volcano‐the‐mouth‐of‐hell/, https://www.usgs.gov/news/earthword‐fumarole, https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/momotombo.html, https://vianica.com/attraction/2/masaya‐ volcano‐national‐park , https://www.alamy.com/bobadilla‐cross‐on‐the‐top‐of‐santiago‐crater‐masaya‐volcano‐national‐image61558665.html, https://blog.mountainhardwear.com/masaya‐volcano‐lava‐lake/, https://spookygeology.com/peles‐hair‐and‐tears/, https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/momotombo.htmlhttps://earthquaketrack.com/p/nicaragua/recent, https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/moment‐magnitude‐ richter‐scale‐what‐are‐different‐magnitude‐scales‐and‐why‐are‐there‐so‐many?qt‐news_science_products=0#qt‐news_science_products, , https://www.livescience.com/62563‐hawaii‐volcano‐eruption‐2018.html, and https://disasters.nasa.gov/kilauea‐hawaii‐eruption‐2018. acuri.net John R. Vincenti Masaya Volcano, Nicaragua .