HISTORICAL ACTIVITY RECORD OF CHILES AND CERRO NEGRO VOLCANOES (COLOMBIAN-ECUADORIAN BORDER)

Abstract

Documentary collection of historical information about the activity of the Chiles (0°49’N and 77°56’W)
and Cerro Negro volcanoes (0°46’N and 77°57’W), on the Colombian-Ecuadorian border allows us to interpret that Chiles was active in pre-Hispanic times, since during colonial times it was already recognized as a volcano. By the middle of XIX century, Chiles volcano presented an intense fumarolic
activity possibly related to minor eruptive events that could have occurred between 1860 and 1869, which were focused towards the southern sector of the volcano. Hydrothermal and incipient fumarole activity into the amphitheater of Cerro Negro volcano is reported by 1870, and eruptive activity at the beginning of XX century, while the fumarolic activity in Chiles had disappeared. Later, between 1923 and 1924, a significant seismicity was recorded (including an event of shallow depth and magnitude 6 on the Richter scale) which, in turn, was associated with Chiles volcano eruptive activity. The lack of more precise data on the eruptive activity of these volcanoes is possibly due to the minor eruptive activity, to the sparse population in the area and to the notion that the two volcanoes were considered as one.