Colombian officials began to evacuate people living on the slopes of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano on Monday, April 3, 2023. The decision follows the highest levels of seismicity since the 1985 eruption (VEI 3) when 25 000 people were killed.
A vigorous eruption took place at Nevado del Ruiz volcano, Colombia at 14:02 UTC on March 20, 2023. The Alert Level remains at 3 (Yellow — the second lowest level on a four-color scale). The last major eruption of this volcano occurred in 1985 and resulted in the deaths of over 20 000 people due to lahars.
The Colombian Geological Service (SGC) found changes in vegetation and increased soil temperature during their inspection of the Cerro Machín volcano. The last eruption at this volcano took place in 1180 CE ± 150 years.
A very large landslide destroyed the communities of Parraga Viejo, Santa Clara, La Soledad and Chontaduro in Colombia’s Cauca Department on January 9, 2023. Luckily, growing cracks started appearing several days before the landslide, alerting communities about the risk.
Seismicity under Machín volcano started increasing at 11:23 LT on December 2, 2022, with signals indicating rock fracturing. This small but explosive volcano is located at the southern end of the Ruiz-Tolima massif. Its last eruption took place in 1180 CE.
At least 12 people have lost their lives after a landslide buried a bus in Colombia’s Risaralda Province on December 4, 2022.
An unusually large landslide occurred in the village of El Molino, municipality of Villa Caro, Santander, Colombia on November 10, 2022.
Colombian president Gustavo Petro declared a national rainfall disaster on November 1, 2022, after rainfall levels across the country this year exceeded levels seen in the past 40 years.
A new increase in seismic activity has been recorded in the area of the Chiles-Cerro Negro Volcanic Complex (CVCCN) and its surroundings since May 2022, which includes volcano-tectonic and long-period earthquakes which are now at more shallow depths than those recorded in previous years.
At least 80 people lost their lives and another 10 are still missing due to floods and landslides in Colombia since March 2022.
