Armero 2024: A Local Guide's Account
The Armero Tragedy was a natural disaster resulting from the eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano on Wednesday, November 13, 1985, which affected the departments of Caldas and Tolima, Colombia. After sixty-nine years of inactivity, the eruption took nearby towns by surprise. Pyroclastic flows emitted from the volcano's crater melted approximately 10% of the mountain's glacier, sending four lahars—flows of mud, earth, and debris resulting from volcanic activity—down the slopes of the snow-capped mountain at 60 km/h. The lahars increased their speed in the nearby ravines and headed toward the channels of the six rivers that originated on the volcano. The town of Armero, located just under 50 km from the volcano, was destroyed by these lahars, with more than 20,000 of its 29,000 inhabitants dying. The victims in other towns, particularly in the municipalities of Chinchiná and Villamaría, increased the
death toll more than 23,000.
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The Armero Tragedy was a natural disaster resulting from the eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano on Wednesday, November 13, 1985, which affected the departments of Caldas and Tolima, Colombia. After sixty-nine years of inactivity, the eruption took nearby towns by surprise. Pyroclastic flows emitted by the volcano's crater melted about 10% of the mountain's glacier, sending four lahars—flows of mud, earth, and debris produced by volcanic activity—which descended the slopes of the snow-capped mountain at
60 km/h. The lahars increased their speed in the nearby ravines and headed toward the channels of the six rivers that originated in the volcano. The town of Armero, located just under 30 mi from the volcano, was destroyed by these lahars, killing more than 20,000 of its 29,000 inhabitants. Victims in other towns, particularly in the municipalities of Chinchiná and Villamaría, increased the death toll to more than 23,000.
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