Telica

Telica has produced 53 recorded eruptions since 1527 — nearly 500 years of documented volcanic activity, one of the longest eruptive records in Central America.

The VEI 4 eruption of 1529 is the largest in Telica's history, occurring just years after the Spanish conquest of Nicaragua.

Since the late 1990s, Telica has been in a state of near-continuous eruptive unrest, with eruptions confirmed in most years from 1999 through 2025.

The Hervideros de San Jacinto, a geothermal field with boiling mud pots and fumaroles southeast of Telica, is one of Nicaragua's most visited natural attractions.

Telica's southern summit crater is 120 m deep and produces visible incandescent glow at night — a dramatic sight for the sunset/nighttime hikers who visit the rim.

The city of León, a UNESCO World Heritage site and Nicaragua's second-largest city, lies just 25 km from Telica's summit.

Nicaragua has one of the highest volcano-to-land-area ratios in the world, with 13 Holocene volcanoes in a country the size of Mississippi.

Telica's persistent SO2 degassing contributes to chronic air quality issues (vog) in the surrounding communities during periods of increased activity.

Sixteenth-century eruptions attributed to Santa Clara — the forested cone at Telica's southwestern end — may actually have originated from Telica itself.

Geothermal exploration near Telica has assessed the volcano's heat source as a potential energy resource for Nicaragua, one of Central America's least electrified nations.

The 20th century alone accounts for 31 of Telica's 53 recorded eruptions — a dramatic acceleration compared to earlier centuries.