Volcán de Agua is a stratovolcano located in the department of Sacatepéquez in Guatemala. It has been inactive since the mid 16th century. At 3,760 metres, Agua volcano towers more than 3,500 metres above the Pacific coastal plain to the south and 2,000 metres above the Guatemalan highlands to the north. It dominates the local landscape except when hidden by cloud cover. The volcano is within 5 to 10 kilometres of Antigua Guatemala and several other large towns situated on its northern apron. These towns have a combined population of nearly 100,000. It is within about 20 km of Escuintla (population, ca .100,000) to the south. Coffee is grown on the volcano's lower slopes.

The local Kaqchikel people have always called the volcano Hunapú "place of flowers". The Spanish conquistadors also called it Hunapú until a mudflow from the volcano in 1541 destroyed the original capital of Guatemala (now known as Ciudad Vieja) and the city was moved to the current Antigua Guatemala following this disaster. As the lahar produced a destructive flood of water, this prompted the modern name "Volcán de Agua" meaning "Volcano of Water", in contrast to the nearby "Volcán de Fuego" or "Volcano of Fire". The Kaqchikels call Volcan de Fuego Chi Gag, which translates to "where the fire is".

Though the volcano has not been active since the mid 16th century, it has the potential to produce debris flows (watery flows of mud, rock, and debris — also known as lahars when they occur on a volcano) that could inundate nearby populated areas.

The Volcán de Agua has been declared a protected area in 1956 and covers an area of 4,450 Ha.

Gallery

See also

• List of volcanoes in Guatemala
• Mountain peaks of North America

Notes

External links

• Ideal Pictures Corp. Menace of Guatemala (Ideal What-Nots series), 1934 documentary now in the public domain. Hosted at the Internet Archive. The narrator has a patronizing attitude to Guatemalans, but the footage is interesting.