Santa Ana - History

There are more than 25 extinct volcanoes dotting, the territory with many small and large craters showing petrified lava flows. Among those, three are considered "at rest" since they show very little activity (scarce sulphur fumes); these are San Miguel, Santa Ana and Izalco volcanoes, the later showing intermittent activity since 1770 until 1957. Even though, the San Salvador's volcano last eruption occurred in 1917, it does not show any evidence of activity

Santa Ana, El Salvador's highest volcano, is a massive strato volcano immediately west of Coatepeque caldera. Collapse of the volcano during the late Pleistocene or early Holocene produced a massive debris avalanche that swept into the Pacific, forming the Acajutla Peninsula. Reconstruction of the volcano rapidly filled the collapse scarp. The broad summit of the volcano is cut by several crescentic craters, and a series of parasitic vents and cones have formed along a 20-km-long fissure system that extends from near the town of Chalchuapa NNW of the volcano to the San Marcelino and Cerro Chino cinder cones on the SE flank. Historical activity, largely consisting of small-to-moderate explosive eruptions from both summit and flank vents, has been documented since the 16th century. Santa Ana volcano  is part of the Central American volcanic chain. This chain is a result of the convergence of the Cocos and the Caribbean plates.  "the volcanic front is divided into eight segments, separated by zones of transverse faulting and offsets and changes in strike and dip of the seismic zone. The active volcanoes, most of which are probably younger than 100 ka, were preceded by an earlier Quaternary volcanic front, and by several pulses of volcanic activity during the Tertiary. The active volcanoes are clearly related to contemporaneous seismic activity. Great shallow thrust earthquakes are preceded by lulls in volcanic activity and followed by periods of intense volcanic activity. The most active volcanoes overlie portions of the inclined seismic zone that are largely a seismic, but there are concentrations of seismic activity at intermediate depths located just up dip from these a seismic regions. This suggests strongly that magma is produced near the top of the descending slab." The civilization dates back to the pre-Columbian epoch, some 1500 years B.C. as it has been evidenced by the relics found in the Tazumal ruins of Chalchuapa. The first inhabitants were Pokomanes, Lencas and Choitis follows later by Uluas and Pipiles who settled down in the western and central zones of the country, in the middle of the XI century. The Spanish chief steersman, Andres Nino leading an expedition, disembarked the 31st of May 1522 on the Meanguera Island located in the Gulf of Fonseca, which was the first Salvadoren land visited by the Spaniards. In June 1524,the Spanish captain Pedro de Alvarado began a war of conquest against the native tribes of the country, called at that time "Cuzcatlan", which means "Land of Precious Things" .After 30 days of bloody battles in which many Indians were killed, including the leader of Cuzcatlan, Atlacatl, Pedro de Alvarado defeated and wounded in his left thigh, abandoned the fight and retreated to Guatemala, commissioning his brother Gonzalo in continuing the Cuzcatlan conquest, and later on his cousin Diego who established the hamlet of San Salvador in April 1528, at the site called La Bermuda, close to the city of Suchitoto. San Salvador was moved to its present site in 1540, and on September 1546,received the title of city, bestowed by Emperor Carlos V of Germany and 1st of Spain. During the following years, the country evolved under the Spanish domination. and toward the end of the XIX, century's first decade, a feeling of freedom rose among the people of Central America, and the time to break the link of slavery arrived at dawn of November 5th 1811, when father Jose Matias Delgado rang the bells of La Merced church calling for insurrection. After many inside struggles, the Act of Independence of Central America was signed in Guatemala the 15th of September 1821, which is also the Independence Day of El Salvador.

The 1970s were a period of political turmoil, when Jose Napoleon Duarte failed to be seated as president after an election. The outbreak of civil war between the right-wing military and left-wing guerrilla forces (FMLN) in the late 1970s resulted in the deaths of thousands of civilians. The government was accused of atrocities and ousted in 1979. A new constitution in 1983 paved the way for the election of Duarte as president in 1984 and marked the return to civilian government.

In March 1989 Alfredo Cristiani of the ultraconservative Nationalist Republican Alliance was elected president. Despite sporadic peace talks, the fighting continued between the government and guerrillas. In April 1990 the rebels and the government agreed to United Nations-sponsored peace talks. Government and rebel leaders signed a peace treaty on Jan. 16, 1992, after almost two years of talks. Key provisions of the agreement included a UN-sponsored cease-fire that would last until October 31, when the FMLN was to disarm and become a legal political party. The government promised to cut the military forces in half by 1994 and absorb the National Police and the Treasury Police into the army. A civilian police force would be created and would include former rebels. In the 12 years of civil war, more than 75,000 people were killed.