Eruption of Irazú Volcano
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Eruption of Irazú Volcano

Volcán Irazúca. 1964Francisco Coto

© Francisco Coto Archive

More about this photograph
Historical note
During the 1963–1965 eruptions of Irazú Volcano, visitors were able to venture remarkably close to the active crater, as the figures in this photograph illustrate. The volcano even became a tourist attraction while it remained active. Explosions ejected ash, rock fragments, and volcanic bombs, with eruption columns rising several kilometers into the atmosphere.. The danger of such proximity became tragically clear in April 1964, when an explosion caught hundreds of visitors near the crater by surprise, killing two people and injuring around 50. Following the accident, access to the area was restricted.
Keywords
small groupunposedwalkinghuman figure for scalewide shotnegative spacestrong perspectivejuxtapositiondeep depth of fielddynamismmonumentalityscale contrast

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