The geyser type is a calcitic chemical deposit.

• Height: 13 m
• Crater Diameter: 8 m
• Base Exterior Diameter: 23 m
• Weight: approx. 400 tons

Mode of formation: emanating geothermal waters with occasional high-pressured bursts

A description of Cuexcomate from the year 1585 says:

“at one league from this city, close to the bridge that they call Cholula, there is in a large grassland… in circular shape, a rock of 6 or 7 estados high, at the top of which there is a great mouth as if it were made to hold a waterwheel.

The which is very deep, and at the bottom of which there is foul smelling water, a very important thing to note: there they say that in the heathen days they threw in (indios) natives to be sacrificed to their idols”

Cuexcomate was formed, in an area that was to become the town of La Libertad, by hydrothermal circulation prior to the 1064 eruption of Popocatépetl. La Libertad was incorporated into the city of Puebla in 1943.

On November 27, 1970, a plaque was placed to commemorate the founding of La Libertad around the sides of the Cuexcomate geyser.

In ancient times, indigenous threw the bodies of suicide victims into the crater because they did not deserve to be mourned or buried. The people living around the geyser were said to be ‘children of the devil’ or ‘under the rule of the devil’.

Pico de Orizaba overlooks the valley and city of Orizaba, from which it gets its name.

During the colonial era, the volcano was also known as Cerro de San Andrés due to the nearby settlement of San Andrés Chalchicomula at its base.

Pico de Orizaba, also known as Citlaltépetl, from Nahuatl language “citlal(in)” = “star” and “tepētl” = “mountain” and thus means “Star Mountain”. This name is thought to be based on the fact that the snow-covered peak can be seen year-round for hundreds of kilometers throughout the region.

The Nahuatl speakers of the Orizaba area, call it Istaktepetl or Iztactépetl, whch means “White Mountain”.

Other name, Poyauhtecatl, which means “the one that colors or illuminates”, has also been recorded. This name was given by the Tlaxcaltecs in memory of their lost country.

Pico de Orizaba is one of only three volcanoes in México that continue to support glaciers and is home to the largest glacier in Mexico, Gran Glaciar Norte.

Orizaba has nine known glaciers:

• Gran Glaciar Norte
• Lengua del Chichimeco
• Jamapa
• Toro
• Glaciar de la Barba
• Noroccidental
• Occidental
• Suroccidental
• Oriental

The equilibrium line altitude (ELA) is not known for Orizaba. Snow on the south and southeast sides of the volcano melts quickly because of solar radiation, but lower temperatures on the northwest and north sides allow for glaciers.

The insolation angle and wind redeposition on the northwest and north sides allow for the constant accumulation of snow providing a source for the outlet glaciers.

On the north side of Orizaba, the Gran Glaciar Norte fills the elongated highland basin and is the source for seven outlet glaciers.

The main glacier extends 3.5 km north of the crater rim, has a surface area of about 9.08 km2 descending from 5,650 m to about 5,000 m. It has a slightly irregular and stepped profile that is caused in part by the configuration of the bedrock. Most crevasses show an ice thickness of approximately 50 m.

Below the 5,000 m in elevation on the north side of the volcano, the outlet glaciers Lengua del Chichimeco and Jamapa extend north and northwest another 1.5 km and 2 km respectively.

The terminal lobe of Lengua del Chichimeco at 4,740 m, having a gradient of only 140 m/km, is a low, broad ice fan that has a convex-upward profile, a front typical of almost all Mexican glaciers.

The most distinct glacier is Glaciar de Jamapa, which leaves Gran Glaciar Norte at about 4,975 m and, after 2 km with a gradient of 145 m/km, divides into two small tongues that end at 4,650 m and 4,640 m. Both tongues terminate in broad convex-upward ice fans thinning along their edges. The retreat of these tongues prior to 1994 produced much erosion downstream and buried their edges by ablation rock debris.

The west side of Gran Glaciar Norte generates five outlet glaciers. From north to south, the first two, Glaciar del Toro and Glaciar de la Barba, are hanging cliff or icefall glaciers, reaching the tops of giant lava steps at 4,930 m and 5,090 m, respectively. They then descend 200 to 300 m farther down into the heads of stream valleys as huge ice blocks but are not regenerated there.

About 1 km, Glaciar Noroccidental, a small outlet glacier 300 m long, drains away from the side of

Gran Glaciar Norte at about 5,100 m and draws down the ice surface a few tens of meters over a distance of 500 m, descending to 4,920 m with a gradient of 255 m/km.

Another 1 km still farther south, Glaciar Occidental breaks away from Gran Glaciar Norte west of the summit crater at about 5,175 m as a steep, 1 km long glacier having a gradient of 270 m/km that ends at 4,930 m.

From the southwest corner of the mountain, another outlet glacier, Glaciar Suroccidental, 1.6 km long, flows from Gran Glaciar Norte at 5,250 m with a gradient of 200 m/km, which also ends at 4,930 m in a long smooth surface.

East of the summit cone, a separate steep niche glacier, Glaciar Oriental, 1.2 km long and has a gradient of 440 m/km, flows down the mountainside from about 5,600 to 5,070 m; it contains many crevasses and seracs and is the most difficult glacier to climb.

Glacier Oriental had a surface area of about 420,000 m2 in 1958, which makes the total area of glaciers and firn field on Citlaltépetl about 9.5 km2. No earlier historical record of glacier tongue activity (advance or recession) is known for Citlaltépetl’s glaciers.

Although the Gran Glaciar Norte ice cap is covered with snow, it is possible to see the seven outlet glaciers on the irregular west margin of the ice cap, especially Glaciar de Jamapa and Glaciar Occidental.

The climate of Pico de Orizaba, like the Sierra Madre Oriental, varies greatly due to the change of elevation and prevailing winds. Due to the latitude and the extremely rugged terrain the volcano experiences many microclimates. Vegetation varies from tropical at the lower elevations on the eastern face to alpine forests in the higher elevations.

Large amounts of precipitation fall on the eastern face of the volcano due to adiabatic cooling and condensation from the trade winds that bring moisture off the Gulf of Mexico.

The eastern face is frequently covered by fog and low cloud cover. The climate of the eastern face varies from tropical at the lower elevations to subtropical highland at the higher elevations, with mild variation in temperatures and an average annual rainfall of 1,600 mm.

Subtropical climates are found between 2,200–3,200 m above sea level with a regular rainfall all year long. Autumn and winter come with frequent freezes and light snow, but the snow on the south and southeast sides melt quickly due to solar radiation.

The northern face is dominated by subtropical highland. The southern face mostly experiences humid subtropical climate which experiences the highest annual temperatures in the month of April.

Due to katabatic winds, the western side is dominated by steppe creating a rain shadow below 2,600 m above sea level. Although there are some areas on the western side that experience most of the area is semi-dry with temperate to warm temperatures and an annual precipitation average of 550 mm. The vegetation here is grass and shrubs with few alpine species.

Between 3,200–4,300 m where temperatures usually are between 2 to 5 °C, continental subarctic climate predominates.

Over 4,300 m with an annual average low of −2 °C, alpine tundra prevails to the summit; heavy snowfalls and blizzards are common throughout the year. Snow on the south and southeast melts due to solar radiation but continually remains on the north and northwestern faces. Extreme cold dominates a surface area of approximately 31 km2.

Pico de Orizaba is located at a distance of 100 kilometers from the shores of the Gulf of Mexico.

Orizaba is located 200 kilometers east of Mexico City lies on the border between the states of Veracruz and Puebla.

The volcano is approximately 480 kilometers south of the Tropic of Cancer.

Orizaba is found at the southeastern end of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, a volcanic chain that runs from west to east across Central Mexico; it is the only historically active volcano in the area.

A companion peak lying about six km to the southwest of Pico de Orizaba is the Sierra Negra, at 4,640 meters. This subsidiary peak is significantly lower than its massive neighbor but is traversed by the highest road in North America passing over its summit.

Pico de Orizaba, like the Sierra Madre Oriental, forms a barrier between the coastal plains of the Gulf of Mexico and the Mexican Plateau.

The volcano blocks the moisture from the Gulf of Mexico from saturating central Mexico and influences the climates of both areas. Both the state of Veracruz and Puebla depend on Pico de Orizaba for supplying fresh water. The largest river originating on the volcano is the Jamapa River.

Topography

The peak of Citlaltépetl rises dramatically to an elevation of 5,636 m above sea level. It has a topographic prominence of 4,922 m. Regionally dominant, Pico de Orizaba is the highest peak in Mexico and the highest volcano in North America.

It is also the third highest peak in North America after Denali and Mount Logan. Orizaba is ranked 7th in the world in topographic prominence. It is the second most prominent volcanic peak in the world after Africa’s Mount Kilimanjaro, and the volcano is also ranked 16th in the world for topographic isolation.

About 110 km to the west of the port of Veracruz, its peak is visible to ships approaching the port in the Gulf of Mexico, and at dawn rays of sunlight strike the Pico while Veracruz still lies in shadow.

The topography of Pico de Orizaba is asymmetrical from the center of the crater. The eastern face is the steepest side of the volcano and the northwestern face the most gradual side. The gradual slopes of the northwestern face of the volcano allows for the presence of large glaciers and is the most traveled route to take for hikers traveling to the summit.

Geology

The volcano is currently dormant but not extinct. The latest eruption of the volcano occurred in 1846 with a magnitude of VEI 2.

Previous eruptions occurred in: 1687, 1613, 1589–1569, 1566, 1555–1545,1539–1533, 1351, 1260, 1187, 1175, 1157, 220 AD, 140 AD, 90 AD, 40 AD, ~780 BC, ~1500 BC, ~2110 BC, ~2300, ~2500, ~2780, ~4690, ~6220, ~6710, ~7030, and ~7530.

The most violent eruption in the volcano’s history is thought to have occurred around 6710 BC reaching a magnitude of VEI 5 characterized by lava dome extrusion and pyroclastic flow.

The volcano’s crater is elliptical with a transverse diameter measuring 478 m and a conjugate diameter measuring 410 m. The crater has an estimated 154,830 m2 with a maximum depth of 300 m.

Pico de Orizaba is constantly covered by an ice cap consisting of several glaciers. An outlet glacier, known as Jamapa Glacier is located on the northeastern side of the peak; it has been a powerful force in shaping the volcano. The Jamapa Glacier is responsible for a significant portion of the geomorphologic evolution of the region surrounding the volcano.

Pico de Orizaba was important in pre-Hispanic cultures, such as those of the Nahuatl-speaking Aztecs and the Totonacs. The volcano is part of many native mythologies.

During the Spanish Conquest of Mexico, Hernán Cortés passed through the foothills of Pico de Orizaba; the volcano and the surrounding mountains made his journey to Tenochtitlan more difficult and delayed him for many days.

During the 1600s, the Spanish Crown financed several roads to be built that would circumvent Citlaltépetl. One of the roads was routed south of the volcano through the cities of Orizaba and Fortín de las Flores, which became the main trade route between Mexico City and Veracruz on the Gulf Coast. A short road was later built by Jesuits to establish settlements at the base of Pico de Orizaba.

The Spanish used the volcano as a landmark to guide themselves to the port of Veracruz. Many battles were fought near this volcano throughout Mexico’s struggle for independence.

In 1839, Henri Galeotti was the first European to explore the volcano, but did not hike to the summit.

During the American occupation of Mexico in 1848, two American soldiers, F. Maynard and William F. Raynolds, were the first known hikers to reach the summit of Pico de Orizaba.

Later that year the French explorer, Alejandro Doignon also reached the summit.

During the mid-19th century Citlaltépetl was explored by many scientists, including the German botanist, Hugo Fink who was the first to record the numerous species of flora found on the volcano.

In 1873, Martin Tritschler raised the Mexican flag at the summit.

On December 16, 1936, President Lázaro Cárdenas, in an effort to protect the natural beauty of Pico de Orizaba, created a national park with an area of 19,750 hectares which included the volcano with the surrounding area and the settlements of Tlachichuca, Ciudad Serdán, La Perla, Mariano Escobedo, and Calcahualco. The federal decree became federal law on January 4, 1937.

Pico de Orizaba attracts a large number of international climbers every year. There are multiple routes for approaching and climbing the volcano, and many people attempt it.

Most people climb the mountain during the period from October to March when the weather is most ideal; temperatures do not vary many months to month due to being in the tropics and April through September are rainy months in the region.

The most frequented route begins from the base camp Piedra Grande Hut (“refugio”) via the Jamapa Glacier, located at an elevation of 4,270 m above sea level.

Another option as a starting point is high camp located at the base of the glacier about 4,900 m above sea level.

For a more technical challenge for the experienced climber, there is a technical ice climb called the Serpents Head which involves 10 pitches of grade 3 ice.

Additionally, the southern side offers another challenging option; although the trail is shorter, it is also steeper and more difficult. No glaciers are found on the southern side. The final ascent to the summit is via a normally straightforward and crevasse-free glacier route.

The caldera can be circumnavigated with relative ease, although at one point this requires a short, exposed traverse of steep rock and ice above the Glacier Este.

Popocatépetl comes from the Nahuatl words popōca “it smokes” and tepētl “mountain”, meaning “smoking mountain”.

The volcano is also referred to by Mexicans as El Popo. The alternate nickname Don Goyo comes from the mountain’s association in the lore of the region with San Gregorio. Goyo is the short form of Gregorio.

The crater’s walls vary from 600 to 840 m in height.

The generally symmetrical volcano is modified by the sharp-peaked remnant of an earlier volcano.

At least 3 previous major cones were destroyed by gravitational failure during the Pleistocene, producing massive debris-avalanche deposits covering broad areas south of the volcano.

The modern volcano was constructed to the south of the late Pleistocene to Holocene El Fraile cone.

Three major Plinian eruptions (the last occurring around 800 AD) have occurred at Popocatépetl since the mid-Holocene, accompanied by pyroclastic flows and volumetric lahars that engulfed the basins beneath the volcano.

The volcano is about 730,000 years old. The elevation at the peak is 5,450 m. The volcano is cone-shaped with a diameter of 25 km at its base. The crater is elliptical with an orientation northeast-southwest.

Popocatépetl is currently an active volcano after being dormant for about half of the last century. In 1991 the volcano’s activity increased and since 1993 smoke can be seen constantly emanating from the crater.

Popocatépetl has been one of the most active volcanoes in Mexico. Since 1354, 18 eruptions have been recorded. In 1927 a major eruption occurred, thus beginning a period of rest.

Then, on December 21, 1994, after several years of inactivity, the volcano registered an explosion that produced gas and ash that were transported by the prevailing winds more than 25 km away.

Currently, its activity is moderate, but constant, with the emission of fumaroles, composed of gases and water vapor, and sudden and unexpected minor expulsions of ash and volcanic material.

The last violent eruption of the volcano was recorded in December 2000, which, following the predictions of scientists, led to the evacuation of thousands of people in the areas near the volcano.

On December 25, 2005, a new explosion occurred in the volcano’s crater, causing a column of smoke and ash three kilometers high and the expulsion of lava.

On June 3, 2011, Popocatépetl once again emitted large fumaroles without causing damage. On November 20, 2011, a large explosion took place that shook the earth and was heard in the towns near the slopes, but without major alteration.

The volcano registered a fumarole of water vapor and ash on the morning of January 16, 2012, without this representing risks to the population surrounding the colossus.

On April 16, 2012, was raised the volcanic alert traffic light from yellow phase 2 to yellow phase 3 due to the great activity that has been occurring, without it thus far representing a serious danger to society.

At 3:23 on April 30, 2013, the Popocatépetl volcano threw incandescent fragments 800 meters from the crater on the northeast slope, reported the National Center for Disaster Prevention (CENAPRED).

On May 12, 2013, after the strong roar that was felt in the town of Atlixco, the volcanic alert light was changed from yellow phase 2 to phase 3. On June 2, 2013, CENAPRED returned the alert level to yellow phase 2.

On June 17 and 18, the volcano recorded several larger explosive events, recording fumaroles that reached 4 km above the level of the crater and expulsions of incandescent rock that reached the slopes on the South-West side of the colossus.

The alert remained yellow in phase 2.

The volcano became active on July 7, 2013, releasing ash clearly visible in nearby towns. The ash also reached Mexico City, expelling pyroclastic flows and incandescence. The volcanic traffic light turned yellow in phase 3.

The volcano registered an explosion on January 22, 2019, releasing incandescent material and ash. This explosion could be felt in areas surrounding the volcano (areas of the state of Puebla and the State of Mexico).

Once upon a time, in pre-Hispanis times, there were two young people named Itzaccíhuatl and Popocatépetl. Itzaccíhuatl was a beautiful princess from the Tlaxcala, and Popocatépetl was a brave Aztec warrior.

Both lived at a time when Tlaxcala was at war with its cruel enemies, the Aztecs.

Popocatépetl deeply loved Itzaccíhuatl and wanted to marry her. Popocatépetl asked to marry Itzaccíhuatl. The leader agreed but had one condition: Popocatépetl had to return safely from the war to marry her.

So, Popocatépetl went off to battle, leaving Itzaccíhuatl behind, eagerly awaiting his return. However, a jealous rival of Popocatépetl spread false rumors and told Itzaccíhuatl that her beloved had died in the fight.

Heartbroken and deceived, Itzaccíhuatl couldn’t bear the sorrow and passed away.

Soon, Popocatépetl returned from the battle. But upon his arrival, he received the devastating news of the death of his beloved. Overcome with grief, he wandered for days and nights, searching for a way to honor their love.

He decided to build a great tomb beneath the sun, piling up ten hills to create a massive mountain. After completing this monumental task, he took the lifeless body of his princess and placed her on the mountaintop.

He kissed her for the last time and, holding a smoky torch, knelt by her side to watch over her forever.

Since then, they have remained together, facing each other. As time passed, snow covered their bodies, turning them into two enormous volcanoes that stood unchanged until the end of time.

***

There’s another legend connected to this volcano, and it’s about a friendly nickname given to the mountain by the people living nearby. They call this volcano “Don Goyo,” which is short for Gregorio.

It’s said that from time to time, an elderly man appears in various villages in the area and introduces himself as Don Gregorio or Gregorio Chino. The locals believe that this old man is the embodiment of the volcano.

Locals believe that Don Goyo, the old man, comes to make sure that the people living in the area act with honesty and show respect to the volcano. They believe that if they do so, good luck will come their way.

Parícutin is located in the Mexican municipality of Nuevo Parangaricutiro.

It lies on the northern flank of the Cerros de Tancítaro, which itself lies on top of an old shield volcano and extends 3,170 m above sea level and 424 m above the Valley of Quitzocho-Cuiyusuru, wedged against old volcanic mountain chains.

It is surrounded by small volcanic cones with the intervening valleys occupied by small fields and orchards or small settlements, from groups of a few houses to those the size of towns.

The volcano lies on and is a product of, the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, which runs 900 km west-to-east across central Mexico. It includes the Sierra Nevada mountain range (a set of extinct volcanoes) as well as thousands of cinder cones and volcanic events.

Volcanic activity here has created the Central Mexican Plateau and rock deposits up to 1.8 km deep. It has also created fertile soils by the widespread deposition of ash and thereby some of Mexico’s most productive farmland.

The volcanic activity here is a result of the subduction of the Rivera and Cocos plates along the Middle America Trench.

More specifically, the volcano is the youngest of the approximately 1,400 volcanic vents of the Michoacán-Guanajuato volcanic field, a 40,000 square km basalt plateau filled with scoria cones like Parícutin, along with small shield volcanoes, maars, tuff rings, and lava domes.

Scoria cones are the most common type of volcano in Mexico, appearing suddenly and building a cone-shaped mountain with steep slopes before going extinct. Parícutin’s immediate predecessor was El Jorullo, also in Michoacán, which erupted in 1759.

Currently, the volcano’s crater is about 200 meters across and it is possible to climb the volcano and walk around the entire perimeter. Parícutin is still hot, and seeping rainwater reacts with this heat so that the cone still emits steam in various streams.

The forces that created the volcano are still active.

In 1997 there was a vigorous swarm of 230 earthquakes in the Parícutin area due to tectonic movement, with five above 3.9 on the moment magnitude scale. There were also some reports of rumbling in 1995 and of black steam and rumbling in 1998.

In the summer of 2006, there was another major volcanic earthquake swarm, with over 300 located near the volcano, indicating magma movement, but with no eruption at Parícutin or anywhere else.

Parícutin erupted from 1943 to 1952, unusually long for this type of volcano, and with several eruptive phases.

For weeks prior, residents of the area reported hearing noises similar to thunder but without clouds in the sky. This sound is consistent with deep earthquakes from the movement of magma.

A later study indicated that the eruption was preceded by 21 earthquakes over 3.2 in intensity starting five weeks before the eruption. One week prior to the eruption, newspapers reported 25–30 per day. The day before the eruption, the number is estimated at 300.

The eruption began on February 20, 1943, at about 16:00 local time. The center of the activity was a cornfield near the town of Parícutin, owned by Dionisio Pulido.

During that day, he and his family had been working their land, clearing it to prepare for spring planting. Suddenly the ground nearby where they were working swelled upward and formed a fissure between 2 and 2.5 meters across.

They reported that they heard hissing sounds, and smoke which smelled like rotten eggs, indicating the presence of hydrogen sulfide. Within hours, the fissure would develop into a small crater.

Dionisio Pulido reported:

At 16:00, I left my wife to set fire to a pile of branches when I noticed that a crack, which was situated on one of the knolls of my farm, had opened .. and I saw that it was a kind of fissure that had a depth of only half a meter. I set about to ignite the branches again when I felt a thunder, the trees trembled, and I turned to speak to Paula; and it was then I saw how, in the hole, the ground swelled and raised itself 2 or 2.5 meters high, and a kind of smoke or fine dust – grey, like ashes – began to rise in a portion of the crack that I had not previously seen.. Immediately more smoke began to rise with a hiss or whistle, loud and continuous; and there was a smell of sulfur.

He tried to find his family and oxen but they had disappeared so he rode his horse to town where he found his family and friends, happy to see him alive. The volcano grew fast and furiously after this. Witness Celedonio Gutierrez, who witnessed the eruption on the first night reported:

.. when night began to fall, we heard noises like the surge of the sea, and red flames of fire rose into the darkened sky, some rising 800 meters or more into the air, that burst like golden marigolds, and rain like artificial fire fell to the ground.

On that first day, the volcano had begun strombolian pyroclastic activity and within 24 hours, there was a scorian cone fifty meters high, created by the ejection of lapilli fragments up to the size of a walnut and larger, semi-molten volcanic bombs.

By the end of the week, reports had the cone between 100 and 150 meters high. Soon after the start, the valley was covered in smoke and ash. The nine-year activity of the volcano is divided into four stages with names that come from the Purépecha language.

The first phase (Quitzocho) extended from February 22 to October 18, 1943, with activity concentrated in the cracks that formed in the Cuiyusuro Valley, forming the initial cone. During this time, the ejected material was mostly lapilli and bombs.

In March, the eruption became more powerful, with eruptive columns that extended for several kilometers.

In four months, the cone reached 200 meters, and in eight months 365 meters. During this period, there was some lava flow.
On June 12, lava began to advance toward the village of Parícutin, forcing evacuations the next day.

The second phase went from October 18, 1943, to January 8, 1944, and is called Sapichi, meaning “child”, referring to the formation of a lateral vent and other openings on the north side of the cone.

Ash and bombs continued to be ejected but the new vent sent lava towards the town of San Juan Parangaricutiro, forcing its permanent evacuation. By August, the town was completely covered in lava and ash, with only the upper portions of the main church still visible.

The evacuations of Parícutin and San Juan were able to be accomplished without loss of life due to the slow movement of the lava.

These two phases lasted just over a year and account for more than 90% of the total material ejected from the cone, as well as almost four-fifths (330 meters) of the final height of 424 meters from the valley floor. It also sent ash as far as Mexico City.

The third (Taqué-Ahuan) lasted from January 8, 1944 to January 12, 1945 and focuses on the formation of a series of cracks on the south side of the cone as well as an increase in activity in the center.

Lava flows from this time mostly extend to the west and northwest. During this period there was also the formation of a mesa now called Los Hornitos to the south.

Over the next seven years, the volcano became less active, with the ejection of ash, stone, and lava coming sporadically, with periods of silence in between.

Professional geologists pulled out of the area in 1948. The last burst of activity was recorded by him between January and February 1952. Several eruptions occurred in succession and a three-kilometer smoke column was produced.

The importance of the Parícutin eruption was that it was the first time that volcanologists were able to fully document the entire life cycle of a volcano.

The event brought geologists from all over the world, but the principal researchers were William F. Foshag of the Smithsonian Institution and Dr. Jenaro Gonzalez Reyna from the Mexican government, who came about a month after the eruption started and stayed for several years.

These two wrote detailed descriptions, drew sketches and maps, and took samples and thousands of photographs during this time. Many of these are still used today by researchers. Foshag continued to study the volcano until he died in 1956.

Between 1943 and 1948, almost fifty scientific articles were published in major journals about the volcano, with even more since. The worldwide effort to study Parícutin increased understanding of volcanism in general but particularly of scoria cone formation.

Despite the ongoing Second World War, the eruption drew attention from around the world, with reporters from newspapers and magazines including Life coming to cover the story.

Airline pilots pointed the volcano out to passengers and one Hollywood film, Captain from Castile, was shot in the area, using the erupting volcano as a backdrop and employing locals as extras.

The eruption also inspired a generation of Mexican artists to depict or allude to it in their works, including Dr Atl, Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Alfredo Zalce, and Pablo O’Higgins.

The eruptions ended in 1952, leaving a final scoria cone with a height of 424 meters from the valley floor. The eruption destroyed or heavily damaged a 233 km2 area, and almost all of the vegetation within several kilometers of the crater was destroyed.

The volcano spread lava over 26 km2, with 52 km2 covered in volcanic sand.

The town of Parícutin, which once had a population of 733, is now completely gone, and all that remains of the town of San Juan Parangaricutiro, with a former population of 1,895, are parts of its main church which stands out among the hardened lava flow.

Though no one died directly from the eruption, three people were killed when they were struck by lightning generated by pyroclastic eruptions. The damage from the eruption primarily affected five towns in two municipalities, San Juan Parangaricutiro and Los Reyes.

In addition to the two towns that were obliterated, Zacan, Angahuan, and Zirosto were also heavily affected. The main effect on the people of the area was the disruption of their lives and livelihood, especially during the first two years.

The area most affected by the eruption had a population of 5,910, and hundreds of these were permanently evacuated. Before leaving his home for the last time, Dionisio Pulido placed a sign on the cornfield: “This volcano is owned and operated by Dionisio Pulido.”

The populations of the two destroyed towns were initially moved to camps on either side of the city of Uruapan. The population of the other three towns mostly stayed in place but made adaptations to survive during the eruption.

The people of Angahuan and Zacan mostly stayed where they were. The population of Zirosto divided into three: those who stayed in the original location, now known as Zirosto Viejo, those who moved a few miles away to a ranch which is now is officially called Zirosto Nuevo but locally called Barranca Seca, and a third group founded a completely new settlement called Miguel Silva near Ario de Rosales.

The town of San Juan Parangaricutiro was the seat of the municipality of the same name, and its destruction prompted the political reorganization and a new seat at Parangaricutiro (today generally called San Juan Nuevo), where much of the population of the old seat had been relocated, with some going to Angahuan.

The economy of the area was then and is now mostly agricultural, with population mostly Purépecha, rural and poor.

However, the eruption did cause a number of changes both social and economic to the affected areas, both to adapt to the changed landscape but also because the fame of the eruption has brought greater contact from the rest of Mexico and beyond.

The volcano has become a tourist attraction, with the main access in Angahuan, from which the volcano is visible. The town offers guides and horses, to visit the ruins of the San Juan Parangaricutiro Church as well as to climb the volcano itself.

The volcano is part of the Pico de Tancítaro National Park and is mostly accessible on horseback, with only the last few hundred, very steep, meters to be climbed on foot.

The trek requires a guide even if horses are not used, as the path is not well-marked and passes through forest, agave fields, and avocado groves. Many simply visit the ruins of the church, which are easier to access and still a pilgrimage site, the old altar regularly adorned with fresh candles and flowers.

Nearby is a group of stands selling local food and souvenirs.

The story of the formation of Parícutin is the subject of the children’s book Hill of Fire by author Thomas P. Lewis published in 1983. The book was featured in an episode of Reading Rainbow in 1985.