Lake Ilopango is a crater lake which fills a scenic 8 x 11 km (72 km2 or 28 sq mi) volcanic caldera in central El Salvador. It is the largest lake in the country and is located immediately east of the capital city, San Salvador. The caldera formed during a cataclysmic eruption in the 5th century AD which produced widespread pyroclastic flows and devastated Mayan cities. This eruption produced about 25 km (6.0 cu mi) of tephra (20 times as much as...
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Lake Ilopango is a crater lake which fills a scenic 8 x 11 km (72 km2 or 28 sq mi) volcanic caldera in central El Salvador. It is the largest lake in the country and is located immediately east of the capital city, San Salvador. The caldera formed during a cataclysmic eruption in the 5th century AD which produced widespread pyroclastic flows and devastated Mayan cities. This eruption produced about 25 km (6.0 cu mi) of tephra (20 times as much as the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens), thus rating a 6 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index. One of the most prominent tourist destinations is a town called Apulo, which was one of the towns affected by the 2009 floods and mudslides caused by Hurricane Ida.
Later eruptions formed several lava domes within the lake and near its shore. The only historical eruption in 1879–80 produced a lava dome which reached the surface of the lake, forming the islets known as Islas Quemadas.
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