Costa Rica’s newest tourist attraction opened last week in the city of Cartago, located outside of the capital, San Jose. Magmática is a combination of a restaurant, small seismological museum, and earthquake simulator that will allow visitors to experience the feeling of a quake up to an 8.8 on the Richter scale.
Cartago is the former colonial capital of Costa Rica, and Magmática is part of an effort to encourage tourism in this historic city. The museum has videos and exhibits with information about earthquakes and volcanoes in addition to an earthquake simulator. Though education about the natural history in the area is part of Magmática’s mission, the creators also aim to give visitors an awareness of how to best react if experiencing an actual earthquake.
Magmática is located 600 meters east of the Carmen Bridge, on the way to Irazú Volcano in Cartago. Tours cost $15, or $10 for kids and students. For more information, call 2552-0304, or visit the Magmática Facebook page.