Some 120 people living in areas surrounding the Nevado del Ruiz volcano in Colombia are being evacuated this Monday before the risk of eruption and the ghost of the worst natural disaster in the country’s history than in 1985 left 25,000 dead.
The governor of the department of Caldas, Luis Carlos Velásquez, assured Blu Radio that will relocate 40 families to safe places who live around the areas closest to the volcano, as a measure "preventative".
According to the local president, some of the houses neighboring the smoking crater are incommunicado via cell phone or radio, which would make it difficult to notify them of any alert.
The Geological Service (SGC) since the end of March there has been an increase in the seismic activity of the Ruiz which could break out into a rash over days or weeks. On Friday the authority increased to "Orange alert" the level of risk of expulsion of incandescent material.
"It is evident that many of these earthquakes are relatively close to the crater, which leads us to be very careful to prepare for any eventuality."the director in charge of the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management, Luis Fernando Velasco, told the same station.
With almost 5,400 meters of altitude the Nevado del Ruiz volcano He is remembered for the tragedy of the missing city of Armero in November 1985when its eruption caused an avalanche that left thousands of deaths.
On Sunday the colossus recorded a "gas column" that reached 1,200 meters above the top of the crater and natural park officials recorded "ash fall"according to the SGC.
The Ombudsman’s Office supported the evacuation of people in a bulletin but warned that "there are many more families that live in the upper, middle and lower areas of the volcano" and they are under "Threat, if the crater eruption materializes, by debris avalanches".
President Gustavo Petro is meeting in the area with local authorities to make decisions that mitigate the risk.
The dangerousness of Ruiz went around the world with the image of Omaira Sánchez, a 13-year-old girl that after the Armero avalanche was left with the mud to the neck and legs trapped in the rubble of his house.
He agonized for three days in the face of the impotence of lifeguards and the media that recorded his death.