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Mt. Irazu has explosive eruptions. Some hazards include mudflows, and tephras. The volcano's fumaroles also release toxic steam which could pollute the nearby air. Irazu's volcano has basaltic magma. The soil around Irazu has allowed for 3 types of forests to develop; Premontane Rain Forest, Montane West Forest, and Montane Rain Forest. These include Alder, Black Oak, and Copey trees.

I razu's most recent and most famous eruption was in 1963 when President John Kennedy visited Costa Rica. The eruption lasted for 2 years costing the country about $150 million. It threw tephra and sent secondary mudflows through cultivated land. 40 people were killed and many homes and some factories were destroyed. Ash was thrown up in the air and "rained" down in valley turning the air black. The eruption's ash clogged up a nearby river, flooding Cartago. It also destroyed much of the coffee crop. The first written record of an eruption was in 1723.

Mt. Irazu is found in Costa Rica and is part of the Cordillera Central. To the locals it is known as Volcan Irazu. Mt. Irazu is the only place in America where you can see both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans at the same time. Its name is derived from a word meaning "thunder and earthquake mountain". Cartago and San Jose are the closest cities. Mt. Irazu is the highest active volcano and also the largest one in Costa Rica at 11,260ft. or 3,402meters. Irazu is an irregular sub conical shaped stratovolcano (composite volcano). It has several craters, the biggest 900ft. or 275meters deep. Some craters contain mineral rich lakes, colored green due to rainfall dissolving minerals on the slopes of the craters. Costa Rica is located where the Cocos plate is subducting under the Caribbean plate. Mt. Irazu is at a subduction boundary.