Salvadoran Volcano Ends 2013 with a Blast

The west coast of Central America is lined with volcanoes. Some of them are quiescent, some active. One of them, San Miguel (also known as Chaparrastique) in El Salvador, has erupted in modern times, as recently as 2002. On Dec. 29, 2013, it underwent a decent-sized paroxysm, blasting a cloud of ash, steam, and gas that rapidly expanded to about 40 kilometers in width, blowing east and north for over a hundred kilometers. This area is a subduction zone, where one continental plate is sliding und...