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Guatemala is a very beautiful country, but it can also be very dangerous. Three tectonic plates meet in Guatemala. Tectonic plates are what our continents move on. They are far underground and when they collide, they are very powerful. Tectonic plate collision causes mountain formation and earthquakes. Because Guatemala has three meeting plates under its surface, no part of the country is safe from earthquakes.
A terrible earthquake devastated Guatemala on February 4, 1976 on the Motagua fault. It killed 23,000 people, injured 76,000, and left over one million homeless. The country took years to recover. |
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There are also a lot of volcanoes in Guatemala; over 30 in the south alone. They have become popular tourist attractions, but they are not always friendly. In 1902, A volcano named Santa Marie erupted and killed over 7,500 people. The eruption lasted between 18 and 20 hours and shot smoke and ash over 17 miles high. When it landed, the ash fell on an area that covered 463,200 square miles. That’s about 10 times bigger than Pennsylvania!! |
