ABSTRACT
The large number of active volcanic centers in Central America combined with the rapid expansion of the population at their surrounds increases the vulnerability and thus the volcanic risk. In this context, two aspects difficult the risk management associated to volcanic activity. First, while several volcanoes maintain continuous activity, only a few of them had recently generated severe impact on the population. Second, other natural phenomena, which have important human consequences, such as hurricanes, floods or landslides, are more frequent than large volcanic eruptions. Both aspects lead the political authorities to underestimate the volcanic risk and to not assign enough resources to adequately monitor the volcanoes. Moreover volcanic surveillance is relatively recent in Central America.
