One of the world’s deadliest volcanoes has been dormant since it last erupted in 1985, but the rise in seismic activity indicates that it may wake up in the “coming days”.
Colombia’s Nevado del Ruiz recorded 6,000 earthquakes per day last week, prompting officials to raise the alert to the second-highest scale and evacuate more than 2,500 families in the area, reports Al-Rai daily.
About 57,000 people live in the volcano’s danger zone, which is spread across parts of six provinces, according to the Colombian Geological Services (CGS).
The eruption of the volcano in 1985 killed more than 25,000 people, and it is the fourth most dangerous volcanic eruption in human history, which caused people to be buried under avalanches of earth and rock fragments.
Colombia’s geological services believe that last week’s earthquakes are caused by magma moving through the fault system, setting the stage for what could be the next deadly Nevado del Ruiz which straddles the border between the departments of Tolima and Caldas in Colombia.
The volcano, which was formed about 150,000 years ago, is 17,717 feet high and is located 80 miles west of the capital, Bogota. It is a stratovolcano consisting of several layers of lava alternating rocks and solidified volcanic ash.
