474 
THE VOLCANOES OF GUATEMALA. 
extinct. Then a terrific explosive eruption occurs in which discharges 
of ash and fragmentary material predominate, though the outflow of lava 
is not unknown, and the whole country for miles round is devastated. 
The cones are in most cases separated by an interval from those 
adjacent in the chain, and, where the vent has shown a tendency to 
shift and form parasitic or subsidiary cones, the new opening has 
usually been nearer to the Pacific ocean. An apparent exception to 
this rule mentioned by Dollfus and Montserrat was the case of Santa 
Maria, 11,480 feet, and Cerro Quemado. The former is an old volcano, 
and was supposed to be extinct. The latter, adjacent but further 
inland, is more recent, and had been active in 1785, when it poured out 
some large flows of andesitic lava. In 1902, after a severe earthquake 
which almost destroyed the adjacent city of Quezaltenango, Santa 
Maria opened out an enormous new crater, nearer the sea than its old 
one, and of course than that of Cerro Quemado, and is thus no longer 
an exception to the general rule. 
This eruption is so important in relation to those of the Soufriere in 
St. Vincent, and Montagne Pelee in Martinique, that the associated 
phenomena deserve special mention. 
On January 18, 1902, there was a severe earthquake. 
On February 26 an unusual tidal wave was observed along the coast 
of Salvador and part of Guatemala. 
On April 18 a very severe earthquake almost destroyed the town of 
Quezaltenango, and caused subsidences at Ocos. 
On May 7 and 8, the great eruptions of St. Vincent and Martinique, 
on the other side of the Caribbean Sea, burst into full activity, after pre¬ 
monitory signs lasting a few days. 
On May 10, Izalco in Salvador, to the south of Guatemala, resumed 
activity after 15 months’ quiescence. 
On June 25, Masaya, in Nicaragua, after forty-three years’ in¬ 
activity, resumed slight activity, which continued for several weeks, 
and the neighbouring crater of Santiago showed similar signs, as did also 
Momotombo, which had been at rest for many years. Colima, in Mexico, 
above 700 miles distant, also showed signs of awakening energy. 
These phenomena culminated in the great outbreak of Santa Maria on 
October 23 and 24, and folloVing days. I and my colleague, Dr. Flett, 
have elsewhere fully discussed the general sequence of these volcanic 
phenomena.* The details of the above must now be discussed 
separately. 
* Anderson and Flett. ‘ On the Eruptions of the Soufriere, etc.’ Part I. Phil. 
Trans., Series A, vol. 200, 1903, pp. 532. Parts II. and III., 1908, will contain the 
later history, the petrology, and a bibliography. 
