page_title: Sierra Madre de Chiapas
section_title: Volcanoes
hierarchical_section_title: Sierra Madre de Chiapas / Geography / Volcanoes
caption_attribution_description: English: View of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas in Guatemala, from the La Pistola viewpoint on the CA1 Inter-American Highway in Guatemala, looking towards the Quetzaltenango and Salcajá valleys. The mountain to the left is the Siete Orejas volcano. The cone of the Tajumulco volcano is visible in the far distance in the centre of the photo. Español: Vista de la cordillera de la Sierra Madre de Chiapas en Guatemala, desde el mirador La Pistola, en la carretera interamericana CA1, mirando hacia los valles de Quetzaltenango y Salcajá. La montaña a la izquierda es el volcán Siete Orejas. El cono del volcán Tajumulco es visible en el lejano horizonte en el centro de la foto.
context_page_description: The Sierra Madre de Chiapas is a major mountain range in Central America. It crosses El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and Honduras. The Sierra Madre de Chiapas is part of the American Cordillera, a chain of mountain ranges that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that form the western "backbone" of North America, Central America, and South America.
context_section_description: The base of many of the volcanic igneous peaks rests among the southern foothills in the southern region of the range. It is, however, impossible to subdivide the Sierra Madre into a northern and a volcanic chain; for the volcanoes are isolated by stretches of comparatively low country; at least thirteen considerable streams flow down between them, from the main watershed to the sea. Viewed from the coast, the volcanic cones seem to rise directly from the central heights of the Sierra Madre, above which they tower; but in reality their bases are, as a rule, farther south.
  East of Volcán Tacana (4,092 metres) which marks the Mexican frontier, the principal volcanoes are Tajumulco (4,220 meters); Santa Maria (3,777 meters), which was in eruption during 1902, after centuries of quiescence, in which its slopes had been overgrown by dense forests; Atitlan (3,557 meters), overlooking Lake Atitlan; Acatenango (3,976 meters); Fuego (i.e. "fire," 3,763 metres), which received its name from its activity at the time of the Spanish conquest; Agua (i.e. "water," 3,765 meters), so named in 1541 because it destroyed the former capital of Guatemala with a deluge of water from its flooded crater; and Pacaya (2,550 metres), a group of igneous peaks which were in eruption in 1870. East of the Guatemalan border, the range forms the boundary between El Salvador and Honduras. In El Salvador, the volcanoes form a line well south of the range, where over twenty volcanoes form five clusters. Between the Sierra Madre and the Volcanic line lies a central plateau.
caption: Sierra Madre de Chiapas in distance, near Quetzaltenango in Guatemala.
  The mountain at left is the Volcán Siete Orejas (left) and Volcán Tajumulco (center).
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