The Colombian Geological Service (SGC) said this Friday that despite the fact that the alert level for the Nevado del Ruiz volcano, in the center of the country, rose from yellow to orange, its eruption is not imminent, but calls for preventive measures in the areas of influence.
“Although the orange level represents a possible eruption of considerable magnitude, which could occur in a matter of days or weeks, this is not imminent. It is only a probability against which the authorities must be prepared,” explains the SGC.
The agency clarifies that the volcano has remained in “constant eruptive activity for the last ten years. However, these events have been minor, mainly with ash fall.”
Hours before, the SGC changed the alert from yellow to orange due to the increased probability of eruption of the volcano, which in 1985 caused the largest natural disaster in Colombia.
The director of Geothreats of the SGC, John Makario Londoño, has asked the authorities of the municipalities surrounding the volcano to have contingency plans in case an emergency occurs.
“Municipalities and town halls are in charge of having these alert systems,” underlines the geologist, who recalled that the volcano was also on orange alert in 2012. “We hope it doesn’t happen, but being prepared is the key,” he said. .
The Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, has declared today that before the orange alert, the “mayors must prepare the protocols for this state of alert”.
Londoño, for his part, explained that an eruption can affect the air with the pyroclastic material that the volcano expels, which can extend several kilometers.
“In the event of an eruption, there could be communities affected by the ash. They must be prepared for that and use masks or scarves to filter the particles,” he recommended.
The departments of Caldas, Tolima, Risaralda, QuindÃo and Cundinamarca are under the influence of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano.
Londoño added that there are no exact times for the alert to go down to yellow again. “The volcano will say it, not us,” he remarked.
The SGC has warned today that “since March 24 there has been a significant increase in seismic activity associated with rock fracturing within the volcanic edifice.”
“This seismicity is located on the southwestern flank of the volcano at a distance from two to five kilometers from the Arenas crater, at depths between two and four kilometers from the top of the volcano,” the SGC has detailed.
According to the expert, the increase in seismic activity in the volcano is a process called “intrusion”, which consists of the magna moving from a deeper source to a more superficial one.
The authorities highlighted “an increase in the daily rate of occurrence, on March 28 with 6,500 earthquakes and on March 29 with more than 11,000 earthquakes” and until Thursday night more than 9,600 had been registered.
With an altitude of 5,364 meters, the Nevado del Ruiz caused a catastrophe on November 13, 1985 when an eruption and melting of its glaciers caused an avalanche that devastated the town of Armero (Tolima), where more than 23,000 of its 25,000 inhabitants died. .
