Does anyone know anything about the 1985 eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz ?

Question

nothing from wikipedia please because their info isnt usually right because random people just write things there.

Answer 1

Below are four (Wikipedia free) links addressing the 1985 eruption of Nevado del Ruiz In Colombia. Hope this helps.

http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/Hazards/What/L...

http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Colo...

http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoe...

http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc...

Answer 2

On November 13, 1985, Nevado del Ruiz erupted. Pyroclastic flows melted ice and snow at the summit which formed lahars that rushed down several river valleys. The lahars were up to 50 metres thick and travelled more than 100 kilometres.[1]

Many houses and towns were devastated by the lahars. The town of Armero was completely covered by debris, killing approximately 21,000 people (out of 28,700). The eruption caused an estimated 23,000 deaths, 5,000 injuries, and destroyed more than 5,000 homes. This was the second-deadliest volcanic disaster in the 20th century (the 1902 eruption of Mount Pelée was the worst). The disaster gained some major international notoriety due in part to a photograph taken by photographer Frank Fournier, of a young girl named Omayra Sánchez who was trapped beneath rubble for three days before she died. [2]

Survivors who fled to other towns in the area were gradually housed in new government schemes, but problems for the displaced population occurred for many years after. The villagers were warned about the possibility of the disaster but because of past false information about it happening and the false statements of the Tolima Department Governor, among other officials, saying that the volcano was not going to erupt, many people did not believe these warnings.

There were hundreds of cases where people a few feet apart were either killed by the massive mud and stone wave or survived the disaster. Among the terrible consequences for survivors was that the temperature of the mud and rock avalanche served as a gigantic culture media for all kinds of pathogenic fungus and bacteria. Some survivors who had minor cuts were killed by the infections, which could not be treated with known antibiotics.

The eruption cost Colombia 7.7 billion dollars; about 20% of the country’s GNP for the year in question. A lack of preparation contributed to the high death toll. Armero had been built directly on old mudflows and authorities ignored a hazard-zone map which showed the potential damage to the town if lahars were to avalanche down the mountain. Habitants were also told to stay inside and avoid the falling ash, not thinking the mudflows would bury them.

Several years later the scarred sides of the creeks along which the lahar flowed were clearly visible from commercial airplanes. Even in the mid 1990s the town was covered with up to 20 feet of ash and debris. Local villagers harvested stones for building work and often, still found human bones that they placed on the shrines that dot the area. A few small trees were trying to grow, protected from wandering animals by makeshift fences.

Now a new system can detect lahars, giving people more warning to evacuate before they happen. The system involves the use of acoustic flow monitors (AFM) which analyze ground shaking that could potentially result in a lahar. These AFMs are placed in the volcano and warn officials if there is an exceedingly high amount of shaking.