The nevado del ruiz volcano

Nevado del Ruiz Nevado del Ruiz is an active volcano located in the Central Cordillera of the Andes, on the border between the departments of Caldas and Tolima, Colombia. It is the northernmost of the volcanoes in the Andean volcanic belt and has a height of 5,321 meters above sea level. It is a stratovolcano, that is, a conical volcano formed by layers of hardened lava, volcanic ash and other pyroclastic materials. Its composition is andesitic-dacitic and its current cone was formed about 150,000 years ago inside an ancestral caldera. At its summit is the Arenas crater, with a diameter of 1 km and a depth of 240 m. Nevado del Ruiz has been active for about two million years, from the Early Pleistocene or Late Pliocene, and has had three major eruptive periods. Its eruptions are of the Plinian type, that is, they produce columns of gas and ash that rise to great heights and generate pyroclastic flows that descend down the slopes at high speed. These flows can melt the ice and snow covering the volcano and cause lahars, which are flows of mud and debris that sweep away everything in their path. Nevado del Ruiz is famous for the Armero tragedy, which occurred on November 13, 1985, when a small eruption caused a huge lahar that buried the town of Armero, causing the death of some 25,000 people. It was the second most devastating volcanic eruption of the 20th century, after Mount Pelée in 1902. There have been other eruptions in the past, occurring in 1595 and 1845, but they were less deadly. It is inside the so-called Parque de los Nevados. The park is a popular tourist destination that offers activities such as hiking, winter sports and fishing in the Laguna del Otún. There are also spas with thermal waters in the region. The volcano has a volcanological and seismological observatory in Manizales that constantly monitors its activity. In March 2023, the risk level of the volcano was raised to orange due to a significant increase in seismic activity that suggests a probable eruption within days or weeks. #nevado #nevadodelruiz #volcanodelruiz #volcanes