Infrared Camera Captures the Eruption of Costa Rica's Turrialba Volcano

Want to see a volcanic eruption up close without risking your life? Check out the video above, courtesy of Costa Rica’s National Seismological Network (RSN). According to Gizmodo, the country’s Turrialba Volcano—which sits about 30 miles to the east of the capital city of San José—erupted early Thursday morning. The RNS filmed Turrialba’s explosion using an infrared camera, and released colorful footage of the volcano spewing clouds of gas, rocks, and ash up to 3280 feet in the air.

“It was a single explosion but a really strong one," Javier Pacheco, a volcanologist with the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica (OVSICORI), told The Tico Times. "This means that there was high pressure inside the volcano."

While the volcano has erupted multiple times over the past two years, Thursday morning marked the volcano’s most powerful eruption since 1996, Reuters reports. Locals had to evacuate the area, and clouds of ash reached San Jose some 30 miles away.

[h/t Gizmodo]

Banner image courtesy of YouTube.