Travel Guide Volcán Paricutín

In the Sierra de Tancitaro, the Paricutin volcano was born on February 20, 1943 under the nose of a couple of farmers who were inspecting their corn field after their day of work. Around 4pm, before their astonished eyes, the ground shook, the earth rumbled and fumaroles began to rise as a rift widened... Four days later, the cone was already 60 metres high and the first lava flow appeared. A week after the eruption, the volcano reached a height of 130 meters. In total, the eruption lasted nine years and gave rise to a volcano some 2,800 metres high. As a result of the eruption, the villages of Paricutín and San Juan Parangaricutiro were completely buried under the lava. Today, only the bell tower of the church is still visible in the middle of the lava flow, the last testimony of the past. Fortunately, at the time, the evacuation of the village was not a problem and only three deaths occurred due to the lightning caused by the volcanic plume. The people who lost their homes under the lava later founded the village of Nuevo San Juan Parangaricutiro.