San Martín Volcano
San Martín volcano (Volcan de San Martín Tuxtla) is a broad basaltic shield volcano that rises above the Gulf of Mexico, and is part of the Tuxtla volcanic field. It has a 1 km wide summit caldera containing 2 smaller scoria cones which formed during the violent 1793 summit eruption that produced wide-spread ash fall and lava flows traveling 3.5 km from the summit.
There are more than 250 flank cones dotted on the flanks of the volcano indicating frequent flank eruptions. The largest historic eruptions were in 1664 and 1793. At present, there is fumarolic activity in the summit caldera.
San Martín volcano eruptions: 1932(?), 1797(?)-1805(?), 1796, 1793, 1664
Latest nearby earthquakes
| Date and Time | Mag / Depth | Distance / Location | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Background
The massive volcano, also known as , is elongated in a NW-SE direction and is capped by a 1-km-wide summit crater. The upper part of the 1650-m-high volcano is covered with dense tropical rain forests. The summit and flanks of San Martín are dotted with more than 250 pyroclastic cones and maars. Well-preserved cinder cones are abundant between the summit of the volcano and Laguna Catemaco on the SE flank. Holocene cones in this area produced ash deposits that buried recently discovered stone pyramids.Significant volcanic eruptions: San Martín volcano
Additionally, there are 4 uncertain or discredited eruptions from San Martín volcano.
| Date | Note | VEI | Deaths | Damage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
?? | Uncertain Eruption | ? | |||
?? | Uncertain Eruption | ? | |||
?? | Uncertain Eruption | 2? | |||
Historical obs./docs. | 2? | ||||
| Cinder cones in summit crater Historical obs./docs. | 4 | ||||
| SE flank Historical obs./docs. | 3 | ||||
?? | Uncertain Eruption | ? | |||
| ? | |||||
| ? | |||||
| South flank | ? | ||||
| South flank (Cerro Puntiagudo) | ? | ||||
| South flank | ? | ||||
| ? | |||||
| South flank (Cerro Mono Blanco) | ? | ||||
| ? | |||||
| ? | |||||
San Martín Volcano FAQ
+When was the last eruption of San Martín volcano?
The last confirmed eruption of San Martín occurred during 1794 - 1796.
+How often does San Martín volcano erupt?
Since 1664 AD, San Martín volcano has had at least 3 historically documented eruptions. This means that it erupts on average every 120 years.
Many eruptions of San Martín have lasted more than one year. In total, the volcano has been in eruption during 5 out of 361 years until now. In other words, San Martín has been active at least one in 72.2 years on average. Note that this value is likely an underestimate, because the known history of eruptions from San Martín is likely incomplete, especially further back in time.
+When was the largest eruption of San Martín volcano?
The largest eruption of San Martín volcano in historic times occurred in 1793. It ranks as a sub-plinian eruption with a magnitude 4 on the VEI (Volcanic Explosivity Index) scale.
Latest satellite images
San Martín Volcano Maps
