San Vicente (volcano)

San Vicente
San Vicente in 1994
Elevation	2,182 m (7,159 ft)
Listing	Breast shaped hills
Location
San Vicente Location in El Salvador
Location	El Salvador
Coordinates	13°35′42″N 88°50′13″W / 13.595°N 88.837°W / 13.595; -88.837Coordinates: 13°35′42″N 88°50′13″W / 13.595°N 88.837°W / 13.595; -88.837
Geology
Type	Stratovolcano
Last eruption	Unknown

San Vicente (also known as Chichontepec or Las Chiches) is a stratovolcano in central El Salvador. It is located next to the town of San Vicente (hence the name) and is the second highest volcano in El Salvador. In the indigenous language Nahuat, Chichontepec means the mountain of the two breasts, because its double summit resembles a woman's bosom. The volcano has 2 craters located 1 in each summit, although not exactly at the top. Dense vegetation covers both summits. Numerous hot springs and fumaroles are found on the northern and western flanks of the volcano. To the northeast, at 820 meters in a ravine of 180 meters of longitude, there are fumaroles -- fountains of clear and muddy water or small volcanoes of mud.

The last significant eruption occurred more than 1,700 years ago. The volcano may have had a very long history of repeated, and sometimes violent, eruptions, and at least once a large section of the volcano collapsed in a massive landslide.

See also

• List of volcanoes in El Salvador
• List of stratovolcanoes
• Breast shaped hills

References

• Global Volcanism Program
• San Vicente
• J.J. Major, S.P. Schilling, C.R. Pullinger, C.D. Escobar, and M.M. Howell Volcano- Hazard Zonation for San Vicente Volcano, El Salvador, USGS, 2001; accessed Nov 2009