Earth from space: 'Smoking terror' volcano that destroyed city 400 years ago burps toxic cloud
Source: Live Science
In this astronaut photo, an infamous Nicaraguan volcano coughs up toxic clouds of gas a few years after its first eruptions for more than a century.
Momotombo is an active stratovolcano that sits on the northern shore of Lake Managua in west Nicaragua. Stereographers who surveyed the region dubbed the volcano "the smoking terror" in 1902, according to NASA's Earth Observatory. It is relatively young for a volcano — around 4,500 years old — and its peak is 4,167 feet (1,270 meters) above sea level, according to the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program.
Momotombo has had several major eruptions during the last 500 years, including a massive outburst in 1610 that triggered an earthquake that destroyed the nearby Spanish-controlled city of León. The residents of the city relocated and built the modern version of León, which is currently Nicaragua's second largest city, while the ruins of the old town are listed as a UNESCO world heritage site.
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