Nevado del Ruiz erupted on 13 November 1985. Although the eruption was small, it caused a large mud flow which swept through the town of Armero almost 40 km away from the summit where more than 23,000 people were killed.
The event caused a heated debate because government officials chose to ignore volcanologists'warnings of the imminent danger of the advancing lahar. The eruption itself had been preceded by increased fumarolic, phreatic and seismic activity for a year.
The tragedy was South America's worst and globally the 4th worst volcanic known disaster.
The event was even more tragic, because it the same events had already occurred at least 2 times during earlier eruptions.
[hide] Nevado del Ruiz has a history of generating deadly lahars: in 1595, a lahar swept down the valleys of the River Guali and the River Lagunillas and killed 636 people.
In 1845, a large lahar flooded the upper valley of the River Lagunillas and killed over 1000 people. The lahar traveled for 70 kilometers downstream before spreading out in the plain in the lower valley floor.
The young town of Armero was built directly on top of this 1845 mudflow deposit.
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