volcanos and earthquakes

Volcanos  and earthquakes  are a part of daily  life here.  It is said that housewives  do not have to mix their food if they just  leave  it out  for  a  while,  due to the frequent  quakes.  Indeed, I have  felt three in the past two weeks with one that made me sit up  and take notice.  A quake  in   1976 killed 10,000 people and  destroyed  many  homes.  There are three volcanos  you can see from  anywhere  in Antigua  and one, El   Fuego  is very  active  and  is always  spewing  smoke, ash, and lava.  The capital  of  Guatemala  was in Antigua  from   the  early 16th  century  up  to  the  late  18th  century  when  it was moved  to  Guatemala  City  to try to  avoid serious  quakes. This  did not work but it did allow  Antigua   to keep  many of its  old colonial  buildings .   The skyline  of  Antigua  is very much like  it was 300  years ago .

The photo  shows  El  Fuego  erupting.