Volcán Tacaná

Tacaná is the second highest peak in Central America, rising 4,060 meters (13,320 feet) in the Sierra Madre de Chiapas region of northern Guatemala and southern Mexico. It is also known as Volcán Tacina in Mexico.

The volcano is located in Guatemala's Tacaná municipality of the San Marcos Department, and in Mexico's Cacahoatán and Unión Juárez municipalities of Chiapas state.

Its last known eruption was in 1986, a small phreatic eruption in May, but it is still considered dangerous to the more than 250,000 people who live nearby.

Tacaná is the first of hundreds of volcanoes in a 1,500 km (930 mi) row, arranged NW to SE, parallel to Central America's Pacific Ocean coast, known as the Central American Volcanic Arc, formed by an active subduction zone along the Caribbean Plate's western boundary.

The agricultural valley's NNE foothills are covered with thick lahar deposits. The valley drains through Mexico to the Pacific Ocean from its headwaters in Guatemala. As a result, mudflows from future eruptions could be hazardous to those in both countries.

Tacaná is part of the Central American Core volcanic chain, which contains fragile ecosystems and diverse biodiversity with cultural, scientific, economic, and biological significance, particularly in the high mountain ecosystem. Its landscapes and volcanic edifices have geophysical features that are both scientific and aesthetically pleasing.

As a result, it has been added to UNESCO's World Network of Man and Biosphere Reserves Program (MAB).

Location: San Marcos, Guatemala and Chiapas, Mexico

Elevation: 4,060 m (13,320 ft)