In 2007, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with Panama's Science, Technology and Innovation Secretariat (SENACYT) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), published a study on different aspects of Volcán Barú. The 33-page report outlined potential hazard areas, rock composition, and areas affected by previous eruptions; there is evidence that during the last eruption, which occurred in the 16th century, the debris avalanche deposits covered a volume of 20–30 km³, reaching as far as the Pacific Ocean (the largest documented in Central America and nearly 10 times the area covered by the Mt. St. Helens debris avalanche in 1980).