COTOPAXI

 

Event description

 

The most destructive historical eruption occurred on June 26, 1877, preceded by small ash emissions on 24 and 25 June. Lahars generated on Cotopaxi have formed by the instantaneous melting of the snow and ice cap by pyroclastic flows and lavas. 1877 lahars traveled down (peak discharge 70`000 m³/s) the three principal rivers and destroyed textile factories in the Chillos and Latacunga Valleys, damaged haciendas, towns and bridges, and swept away an idigenous settlement along the Rio Napo, east of the volcano in the Amazon lowlands.

 

Damage

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Lahars destroyed textile factories in the Chillos and Latacunga Valleys, damaged haciendas, towns and bridges, and swept away an idigenous settlement along the Rio Napo, east of the volcano in the Amazon lowlands.

 

Data source

 

Mothes, P. A. (1992): Lahars of Cotopaxi Volcano, Ecuador: hazard and risk evaluation. Geohazards: natural and man-made, 53 � 63.

 

Remarks

 

Floods of M�rjelen Lake occured periodically, but irregular. Between the year 1813 and 1915 the entire or part of the lake drained 46 times.