As the three towns were destroyed on the western side of the volcano, a town by the name of El Borio on the east side was untouched and unharmed. It is a popular myth that after the volcano ceased to erupt, El Borio was renamed La Fortuna, which means the fortunate, referring to its luckiness that the volcano erupted to the west and not the east. However, the town was renamed La Fortuna by its residents before the 1968 eruption. La Fortuna means The Fortune, and refers to the flat, fertile lands in the area, which are unlike the rough, mountainous terrain which surrounds most of the Arenal volcano. If the town had been renamed The Fortunate, it would have been called El Afortunado.