The volcano surged suddenly from the cornfield of local farmer Dionisio Pulido in 1943, attracting both popular and scientific attention.

By 1952, the eruption had left a 424-meter-high (1,391 ft) cone and significantly damaged an area of more than 233 square kilometers (90 sq mi) with the ejection of stone, volcanic ash and lava.

Although the larger region still remains highly active volcanically, Parícutin is now dormant and has become a tourist attraction, with people climbing the volcano and visiting the hardened lava-covered ruins of the San Juan Parangaricutiro Church.

[6][7][8] The volcano lies on, and is a product of, the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, which runs 900 kilometers (560 mi) west-to-east across central Mexico.

It includes the Sierra Nevada mountain range (a set of extinct volcanoes) as well as thousands of cinder cones and volcanic vents.

[10][11] Scoria cones are the most common type of volcano in Mexico, appearing suddenly and building a cone-shaped mountain with steep slopes before becoming extinct.

[8] Although classified as extinct by scientists, Parícutin is still hot, and seeping rainwater reacts with this heat so that the cone still emits steam in various streams.

[14] In the summer of 2006, there was another major volcanic earthquake swarm, with over 300 located near the volcano, indicating magma movement, but with no eruption at Parícutin or elsewhere.

They reported that they heard hissing sounds, and saw smoke which smelled like rotten eggs, indicating the presence of hydrogen sulfide.

[4][11] Pulido reported: At 4 p.m., I left my wife to set fire to a pile of branches when I noticed that a crack, which was situated on one of the knolls of my farm, had opened .

I set about to ignite the branches again when I felt a thunder, the trees trembled, and I turned to speak to Paula; and it was then I saw how, in the hole, the ground swelled and raised itself 2 or 2.5 meters high, and a kind of smoke or fine dust – grey, like ashes – began to rise up in a portion of the crack that I had not previously seen .

[4] Celedonio Gutierrez, who witnessed the eruption on the first night, reported: …when night began to fall, we heard noises like the surge of the sea, and red flames of fire rose into the darkened sky, some rising 800 meters or more into the air, that burst like golden marigolds, and a rain like fireworks fell to the ground.

[4]On that first day, the volcano had begun strombolian pyroclastic activity; and within 24 hours there was a scoria cone fifty meters high, created by the ejection of lapilli fragments up to the size of a walnut and larger, semi-molten volcanic bombs.

[11] The second phase went from October 18, 1943 to January 8, 1944 and is called Sapichi, meaning "child", referring to the formation of a lateral vent and other openings on the north side of the cone.

[6][8] Ash and bombs continued to be ejected but the new vent sent lava towards the town of San Juan Parangaricutiro, forcing its permanent evacuation.

[4][11] The event brought geologists from all over the world,[11] but the principal researchers were William F. Foshag of the Smithsonian Institution and Dr. Jenaro Gonzalez Reyna from the Mexican government, who came about a month after the eruption started and stayed for several years.

The Hollywood film, Captain from Castile, was shot in the area, using the erupting volcano as a backdrop and employing locals as extras.

The eruption also inspired a generation of Mexican artists to depict or allude to it in their works, including Dr Atl, Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Alfredo Zalce and Pablo O'Higgins.

[9] The town offers guides and horses, both to visit the ruins of the San Juan Parangaricutiro Church as well as to climb the volcano itself.

[5] The volcano is part of the Pico de Tancítaro National Park and is mostly accessible on horseback, with only the last few hundred, very steep, meters to be climbed on foot.

[13] The trek requires a guide even if horses are not used, as the path is not well-marked and passes through forest, agave fields and avocado groves.

Many simply visit the ruins of the church, which are easier to access and still a pilgrimage site, the old altar regularly adorned with fresh candles and flowers.