92-487: Tolima ( Spanish pronunciation: [toˈlima] ) is one of the 32 departments of Colombia , located in the Andean region, in the center-west of the country. It is bordered on the north and the west by the department of Caldas ; on the east by the department of Cundinamarca ; on the south by the department of Huila , and on the west by the departments of Cauca , Valle del Cauca , Quindío and Risaralda . Tolima has
184-619: A municipal council ( concejo municipal ), both of which are elected by popular vote for four-year periods. Some departments have subdivisions above the level of municipalities, commonly known as provinces . The indigenous territories are at the third level of administrative division in Colombia, as are the municipalities. Indigenous territories are created by agreement between the government and indigenous communities. In cases where indigenous territories cover more than one department or municipality, local governments jointly administer them with
276-581: A central vent eruption, a flank vent eruption, and a phreatic (steam) explosion . Ruiz is the second-most active volcano in Colombia after Galeras . One week before the eruption, Marxist insurgents attacked and laid siege to the Palace of Justice in Bogotá, planning to hold a trial involving Colombian president Belisario Betancur . Betancur refused to participate and sent the National Army into
368-430: A governor ( gobernador ) and an Assembly ( Asamblea Departamental ), elected by popular vote for a four-year period. The governor cannot be re-elected in consecutive periods. Departments are country subdivisions and are granted a certain degree of autonomy. Departments are formed by a grouping of municipalities ( municipios , sing. municipio ). Municipal government is headed by mayor ( alcalde ) and administered by
460-663: A mountainous region, occupied by the Cordillera Central ; a plain, that corresponds to the valleys of the rivers Magdalena and Saldaña; and the region to the southeast which forms the western slope of the Cordillera Oriental , which contains the source of the Cabrera river. These two mountain ranges are separated by the Magdalena Valley, and join back together further south, where the river's head
552-467: A surface area of 23,562 km, and its capital is Ibagué . The department of Tolima was created in 1861 from a part of what was previously Cundinamarca . The Pijao inhabited the southern parts of Tolima during pre-Columbian times. The name of the department comes from the Pijao word for "snowed". The Panche , of the same linguistic family as the Pijao, populated the northern regions of Tolima, close to
644-438: A territorial plan that includes the identification of natural threats, treatment for building permits and preparedness for the prevention and management of natural disasters through planning programs which have helped save lives in many natural disasters since Armero's tragedy. In 1988, three years after the eruption, Stanley Williams of Louisiana State University stated that, "With the possible exception of Mount St. Helens in
736-1782: A type of cheese wrapped in a plantain leaf. Drinks include the Avena , a cold oatmeal-based drink. Tolima gave to the country ten presidents: Domingo Caycedo , José María Melo , Manuel Murillo Toro , José María Rojas Garrido , Miguel Abadía Méndez , Alfonso López Michelsen , Darío Echandía , Carlos Lozano y Lozano , Gabriel París , and Deogracias Fonseca . The Department of Tolima groups its municipalities into six zones: northern, eastern, southern, center, southeastern and snowy. [REDACTED] Amazonas [REDACTED] Antioquia [REDACTED] Arauca [REDACTED] Atlántico [REDACTED] Bolívar [REDACTED] Boyacá [REDACTED] Caldas [REDACTED] Caquetá [REDACTED] Casanare [REDACTED] Cauca [REDACTED] Cesar [REDACTED] Chocó [REDACTED] Córdoba [REDACTED] Cundinamarca [REDACTED] Guainía [REDACTED] Guaviare [REDACTED] Huila [REDACTED] La Guajira [REDACTED] Magdalena [REDACTED] Meta [REDACTED] Nariño [REDACTED] N. Santander [REDACTED] Putumayo [REDACTED] Quindío [REDACTED] Risaralda [REDACTED] San Andrés [REDACTED] Santander [REDACTED] Sucre [REDACTED] Tolima [REDACTED] Valle del Cauca [REDACTED] Vaupés [REDACTED] Vichada Capital district: [REDACTED] Bogotá Departments of Colombia Departments of Colombia refer to
828-600: A variety of different mountainous temperatures: snowy summits more than 5,000 meters high (home to the Las Hermosas and Nevado del Huila National Natural Parks) with below freezing temperatures like the Nevado del Huila and the Nevado del Tolima , and hotter zones in wide valleys lower than 400 meters above sea level that reach temperatures hotter than 40 degrees Celsius. The Tolima department includes three distinct regions:
920-528: A young victim of the disaster, were published around the world. Other photographs of the lahars and the impact of the disaster captured attention worldwide and led to controversy over the degree to which the Colombian government was responsible for the disaster. A banner at a mass funeral in Ibagué read, "The volcano didn't kill 22,000 people. The government killed them." The relief efforts were hindered by
1012-607: Is also widely recognised for its distinctive cuisine. Famous regional dishes include the Tamal Tolimense , a rice- and yellow pea-based dish with pork, egg, chicken, beef and vegetable filling, wrapped inside a plantain leaf; the Lechona , a yellow pea-and-meat-stuffed pork; Empanadas , small potato, rice and meat stuffed pastries, made with corn dough; Achiras (although not exclusively from this department) and Bizcocho calentano , smaller flour pastries; and Quesillo ,
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#17327764517591104-841: Is famous for the Fiestas of San Pedro in Espinal , San Juan in Natagaima and in Ibagué, the Colombian Folkloric Festival and the "Concurso de Duetos Garzón y Collazos." Tolima has produced many writers: Arturo Camacho Ramíez, Juan Lozano y Lozano, Diego Fallon, William Ospina, James Cañón , Martín Pomala, Luz Stella; painters: Darío Jiménez, Jorge Elías Triana, Darío Ortiz Robledo, Carlos Granada, Julio Fajardo; historians Eduardo Santa, Gonzalo Sanchez, Hermes Tovar Pinzón, Hernán Clavijo, Darío Ortiz Vidales. The department
1196-869: Is located. The greater part of the department of Tolima sits on the Continental Lithospheric Mesoproterozoic Grenville Province, which consists of the Cordillera Central, the Cordillera Oriental, and the mountain ranges of Santa Marta and la Macarena. Most of the territory is situated over Mesozoic deposits of the Late Triassic period (T3) and Early Jurassic (J1). Volcanic activity is an issue that residents must deal with living in many parts of Tolima, due to its location over various geological faults. In 1985, for example,
1288-798: Is situated close enough to the river to be put in danger by volcanic flows, should the volcano ever erupt again. The territory of Tolima is traversed from the south to north by the Magdalena River, of which the main rivers of the Tolima are tributary. Other rivers are the Saldaña River , the Cabrera, Coello, the Tetuán, the Gualí, the Rio Recio, and the Rio Prado. The Rio Prado dam is found on
1380-533: The El Tiempo newspaper featured illustrations which "gave a perception of topography to the public unfamiliar with maps, allowing them to relate hazard zones to the landscape". In spite of this presentation that was keyed to the audience, the map ended up a more artistic representation of the risk than a purely scientific one. The day of the eruption, black ash columns erupted from Ruiz at approximately 3:00 p.m. local time. The local civil defense director
1472-707: The Magdalena Valley . Renowned as fierce warriors, the Panche were widely known for fighting the Muisca over the control of emerald mining territories. They fought against a Spanish-Muisca coalition and were first defeated in the Battle of Tocarema on August 20, 1538. Spanish colonization of the region began in 1537 with Sebastián de Belalcázar travelling from the south of later Colombia, where he had founded Cali and Popayán in 1537. He set north to finally reach
1564-582: The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) sent one member of the United States Geological Survey (USGS), along with an USAID disaster relief expert and twelve helicopters, with support and medical personnel from Panama. The US subsequently sent additional aircraft and supplies, including 500 tents, 2,250 blankets, and several tent repair kits. Twenty-four other nations contributed to
1656-458: The administrative divisions of Colombia . As of 2024 , the unitary republic is made up of thirty-two departments. Each department has a governor and an assembly , elected by popular vote for a four-year period. Colombia is a unitary republic made up of thirty-two administrative divisions referred to as departments ( Spanish : departamentos , sing. departamento ) and one Capital District ( Distrito Capital ). Each department has
1748-1427: The states of Colombia into departments, with the state presidents renamed as governors. The states formed the following original departments: [REDACTED] Amazonas [REDACTED] Antioquia [REDACTED] Arauca [REDACTED] Atlántico [REDACTED] Bolívar [REDACTED] Boyacá [REDACTED] Caldas [REDACTED] Caquetá [REDACTED] Casanare [REDACTED] Cauca [REDACTED] Cesar [REDACTED] Chocó [REDACTED] Córdoba [REDACTED] Cundinamarca [REDACTED] Guainía [REDACTED] Guaviare [REDACTED] Huila [REDACTED] La Guajira [REDACTED] Magdalena [REDACTED] Meta [REDACTED] Nariño [REDACTED] N. Santander [REDACTED] Putumayo [REDACTED] Quindío [REDACTED] Risaralda [REDACTED] San Andrés [REDACTED] Santander [REDACTED] Sucre [REDACTED] Tolima [REDACTED] Valle del Cauca [REDACTED] Vaupés [REDACTED] Vichada Capital district: [REDACTED] Bogotá Armero tragedy The Armero tragedy (Spanish: Tragedia de Armero [tɾaˈxeðja ðe aɾˈmeɾo] ) occurred following
1840-415: The 20th century, surpassed only by the 1902 eruption of Mount Pelée , and is the fourth-deadliest volcanic event recorded since 1500. The event was a foreseeable catastrophe exacerbated by the populace's unawareness of the volcano's destructive history; geologists and other experts had warned authorities and media outlets about the danger in the weeks and days leading up to the eruption. Hazard maps for
1932-532: The Colombian government created a special program, the Oficina Nacional para la Atención de Desastres (National Office for Disaster Preparedness), now known as the Dirección de Prevención y Atención de Desastres (Directorate for Disaster Prevention and Preparedness) – to prevent such incidents in the future. All Colombian cities were directed to promote prevention planning to mitigate
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#17327764517592024-493: The Combeima, Chinchiná, Coello-Toche, and Guali river valleys. A lahar (or group of lahars) similar in size to the 1985 event might travel as far as 100 km (60 mi) from the volcano and could be triggered by a small eruption. To counter this threat, the Colombian government established a specialized office which administers the national system for identification, prevention, preparedness and management of natural disasters,
2116-517: The Cucuana, Luisa, and Amoya rivers. The economy of the Tolima is based on agriculture. Industry in Tolima, as has been happening to the whole country, has been declining in its proportion of GDP , while services gain more importance, a phenomenon known as deindustrialization . Within the sector services Tolima excels in commerce, public administration, other services to the community and "reparaciones", which contribute respectively 11.2% and 9.1% of
2208-518: The GDP. The GDP per inhabitant in Tolima, registered during 2002 a reduction of 0.4% in constant prices. According to the results of the DANE census, the department of Tolima registered between the years of 2001 and 2002 a diminution, to constant prices, of 0.1% in its GDP, falling from Col$ 2.05 trillion in 2001 to Col$ 2.04 trillion in 2002. The result is explained by the fact that traditional sectors within
2300-648: The National Unit for Management of Disasters Risk ( Sistema Nacional de Gestión del Riesgo de Desastres [ es ] ). The United States Geological Survey also created the Volcano Disaster Assistance Program and the Volcano Crisis Assistance Team, which evacuated roughly 75,000 people from the area around Mount Pinatubo before its 1991 eruption . All Colombian counties, by law, have
2392-456: The Nevado de Ruiz erupted and caused the Armero tragedy , which caused the death of more than 23,000 people and destroyed the town of Armero. The department's capital, Ibagué , is also built near a very large active volcano; the Nevado del Tolima. It stands at 5215 meters (17,110 ft) high, and last erupted in 1943. The Combeima River flows from this mountain and passes by Ibagué, part of which
2484-484: The area around Nevado del Ruiz. Increased fumarole activity, deposition of sulfur on the summit of the volcano, and phreatic eruptions also alerted geologists to the possibility of an eruption. Phreatic events, when rising magma encounters water, continued well into September 1985 (one major event took place on September 11, 1985), shooting steam high into the air. Activity began to decline in October, probably because
2576-524: The area where Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada had founded Bogotá on August 6, 1538. On its way, De Belalcázar founded the settlement that would become known as Ibagué . De Belalcázar traveled until he reached the settlement of Flandes in Tolima, before heading east towards the Bogotá savanna . Later conquests were executed by captain Andrés Lopez de Galarza , who founded the city of Ibagué and established
2668-412: The attention of the reporters at the site because of her sense of dignity and courage, and caused controversy when people wondered why the photographer had not saved her (which was impossible without equipment). An appeal to the government for a pump to lower the water around Sánchez was left unanswered, and she succumbed to gangrene and hypothermia after sixty hours of being trapped. Her death epitomized
2760-499: The building. The attackers were holding several hundred prisoners, including the 24 Supreme Court justices and 20 other judges. In the ensuing battle between the two forces, more than 75 prisoners died (including 11 judges). This disaster, coupled with the Armero tragedy, spurred the Colombian government to predict and prepare for a broad range of threats. In late 1984, geologists noticed that seismic activity had begun to increase in
2852-413: The composition of the mud, which made it nearly impossible to move through without becoming stuck. By the time relief workers reached Armero twelve hours after the eruption, many of the victims with serious injuries were dead. The relief workers were horrified by the landscape of fallen trees, disfigured human bodies, and piles of debris from entire houses. This was the second-deadliest volcanic disaster of
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2944-487: The consequences of natural disasters, and evacuations due to volcanic hazards have been carried out. About 2,300 people living along five nearby rivers were evacuated when Nevado del Ruiz erupted again in 1989. When another Colombian volcano, Nevado del Huila , erupted in April 2008, thousands of people were evacuated because volcanologists worried that the eruption could be another "Nevado del Ruiz". The lessons from
3036-415: The continuing activity at Ruiz. At 9:45 p.m., after the volcano had erupted, civil defense officials from Ibagué and Murillo tried to warn Armero's officials, but could not make contact. Later they overheard conversations between individual officials of Armero and others; famously, a few heard the mayor of Armero speaking on a ham radio , saying "that he did not think there was much danger" just before he
3128-525: The danger from falling material—including ash and rock —near Murillo , Santa Isabel , and Libano , as well as the threat of lahars in Mariquita , Guayabal , Chinchiná and Armero. The map was poorly distributed to the people at high risk from Ruiz: many survivors had never heard of it, even though several of the country's major newspapers featured versions of the map. Henry Villegas of INGEOMINAS (Colombian Institute of Mining and Geology) stated that
3220-407: The disaster prompted lawmakers to campaign for Garcia to resign. In the media, similar thoughts and questions were hotly debated. One of the most aggressive campaigns came from a mass funeral in Ibagué for the victims, claiming that "The volcano didn't kill 22,000 people. The government killed them." Nevado del Ruiz continues to pose a serious threat to nearby towns and villages. Of the threats,
3312-431: The disaster, rescue efforts began to cease. Nearly 4,000 relief workers and rescue team members were still searching for survivors, with little hope of finding any. By then, the official death toll was registered at 22,540 people; additional counts showed that 3,300 were missing, 20,000 homeless, and 4,000 injured. Looters raided the ruins and survivors faced concerns of typhus and yellow fever. For most of
3404-521: The dissolution of Gran Colombia in 1826 by the Revolution of the Morrocoyes ( La Cosiata ), New Granada kept its 17 provinces. In 1832 the provinces of Vélez and Barbacoas were created, and in 1835 those of Buenaventura and Pasto were added. In 1843 those of Cauca, Mompós and Túquerres were created. At this time the cantons ( cantones ) and parish districts were created, which provided the basis for
3496-406: The economic structure of the department such as the coffee registered a reduction of 22.4%, reducing 2 percentage points to the total variation, and others did not have important growth or presented/displayed diminutions in its added values. So it is the case of the activity branches: transport, commerce and repairs, industry and electricity gas and water, which jointly reduced 1.7 percentage points to
3588-471: The ejected sulfur dioxide was about 700,000 metric tons, or about two percent of the mass of the erupted solid material, making the eruption unusually sulfur rich. The eruption produced pyroclastic flows that melted summit glaciers and snow, generating four thick lahars that raced down river valleys on the volcano's flanks, destroying a small lake that was observed in Arenas' crater several months before
3680-455: The eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz stratovolcano in Tolima , Colombia , on November 13, 1985. The volcano's eruption after 69 years of dormancy caught nearby towns unprepared, even though volcanological organizations had warned the government to evacuate the area after they detected volcanic activity two months earlier. As pyroclastic flows erupted from the volcano's crater , they melted
3772-400: The eruption suffered from anxiety and depression , which can lead to alcohol abuse, marital problems and other social issues. Rafael Ruiz, a National Army major who briefly served as Armero's provisional mayor after the disaster, stated that there were survivors who, due to the trauma of the event, were "jittery", experienced "nightmares", and suffered from "emotional problems". He added that
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3864-699: The eruption, "With the possible exception of Mount St. Helens in the state of Washington, no other volcano in the Western Hemisphere is being watched so elaborately." In response to the eruption, the USGS Volcano Crisis Assistance Team was formed in 1986, and the Volcano Disaster Assistance Program. The volcano erupted several more times between 1985 and 1994. Concerns over the alleged negligence of local officials to alert locals of
3956-411: The eruption. Water in such volcanic lakes tends to be extremely salty, and may contain dissolved volcanic gases. The lake's hot, acidic water significantly accelerated the melting of the ice, an effect confirmed by the large amounts of sulfates and chlorides found in the lahar flow. The lahars, formed of water, ice, pumice , and other rocks, incorporated clay from eroding soil as they traveled down
4048-578: The event came to be known, was the second-deadliest volcanic disaster of the 20th century, surpassed only by the 1902 eruption of Mount Pelée , and is the fourth-deadliest volcanic eruption recorded since 1500 AD. It is also the deadliest lahar, and Colombia's worst natural disaster. The loss of life was exacerbated by the lack of an accurate timeframe for the eruption and the unwillingness of local authorities to take costly preventative measures without clear signs of imminent danger. Because its last substantial eruption had occurred 140 years earlier, it
4140-462: The eyes, ears, and mouth — and placed pressure capable of inducing traumatic asphyxia in one or two minutes upon people buried in it. Martí and Ernst state in their work Volcanoes and the Environment that they believe that many who survived the lahars succumbed to their injuries as they were trapped, or contracted hypothermia , though the latter is unlikely, given that survivors described
4232-465: The falling ash, as local officials had instructed them to do, not thinking that they might be buried by the mudflows. The disaster gained 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. Following the eruption, relief workers gathered around the girl, speaking with her and listening to her responses. She attracted
4324-732: The final hours before the eruption. Volcanologist Bernard Chouet said that "the volcano was screaming, 'I'm about to explode'", but the scientists who were studying Ruiz at the time of the eruption were not able to read the signal. The Nevado del Ruiz eruption occurred two months after the 1985 Mexico City earthquake , limiting the amount of supplies that could be sent to each of the disasters. Efforts were organized in Ibagué and Bogotá for Armero and in Cali for Chinchiná, where medical teams gathered. Makeshift triage stations were established in Lerida, Guayabal, and Mariquita, and soon were overwhelmed with
4416-445: The functions of INCORA, one of the most important being to declare which territories will acquire the status of indigenous protection and what extension of existing ones will be allowed. Decree 2164 of 1995 interprets Law 160 of 1994, providing, among other things, a legal definition of indigenous territories. Indigenous territories in Colombia are mostly in the departments of Amazonas, Cauca, La Guajira, Guaviare, and Vaupés. When it
4508-427: The gases equilibrated within the volcano. The extensive degassing of the magma caused pressure to build up inside the volcano in the space above the magma, which eventually resulted in the explosive eruption. In September 1985, as earthquakes and phreatic eruptions rocked the area, local officials began planning for an evacuation. In October, a hazard map was finalized for the area around Ruiz. This map highlighted
4600-404: The government and army were preoccupied at the time of the eruption. The day after the eruption, relief workers in Armero were appalled at its impact. The lahars had left behind a gray mass which covered the entire town, which was dotted with broken trees and horribly disfigured bodies. Debris from huts and homes protruded from beneath the gray mud. A few bags filled with crops were discovered in
4692-445: The hazard maps clearly demonstrated that Armero would be affected by lahars, but that the map "met with strong opposition from economic interests". He added that because the map was not prepared long before the eruption, mass production and distribution of it in time was difficult. At least one of the hazard maps, published in the prominent El Espectador newspaper in Bogotá, included glaring errors. Without proper graphic scaling, it
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#17327764517594784-720: The indigenous councils, as set out in Articles 329 and 330 of the Colombian Constitution of 1991 . Also indigenous territories may achieve local autonomy if they meet the requirements of the law. Article 329 of the 1991 constitution recognizes the collective indigenous ownership of indigenous territories and repeats that are inalienable. Law 160 of 1994 created the National System of Agrarian Reform and Rural Development Campesino, and replaced Law 135 of 1961 on Agrarian Social Reform; it establishes and sets out
4876-511: The lahar that destroyed Armero in 1985. In just hours, these lahars can travel up to 100 km (62 mi) along river valleys. Estimates show that up to 500,000 people living in the Combeima, Chinchiná, Coello-Toche, and Guali valleys are at risk, with 100,000 individuals being considered to be at high risk. Lahars pose a threat to the nearby towns of Honda, Mariquita, Chinchiná, Ambalema , Herveo , Villa Hermosa , Puerto Salgar and La Dorada . Although small eruptions are more likely,
4968-513: The lahar's duration to roughly two hours. By that point, 85 percent of Armero was enveloped in mud. Survivors described people holding on to debris from their homes in attempts to stay above the mud. Buildings collapsed, crushing people and raining down debris. The front of the lahar contained boulders and cobbles that would have crushed anyone in their path, while the slower parts were dotted by fine, sharp stones which caused lacerations. Mud moved into open wounds and other open body parts —
5060-424: The lahars virtually erased Armero; three-quarters of the town's 28,700 inhabitants were killed. Proceeding in three major waves, this lahar was 30 m (100 ft) deep, moved at 12 m/s (39 ft/s; 27 mph), and lasted ten to twenty minutes. Traveling at about six m/s (20 ft/s; 13 mph), the second lahar lasted thirty minutes and was followed by smaller pulses. A third major pulse brought
5152-450: The mountain's glaciers, sending four enormous lahars (volcanically induced mudflows , landslides , and debris flows ) down its slopes at 50 km/h (30 mph). The lahars picked up speed in gullies and engulfed the town of Armero , killing more than 20,000 of its almost 29,000 inhabitants. Casualties in other towns, particularly Chinchiná , brought the overall death toll to 23,000. Footage and photographs of Omayra Sánchez ,
5244-403: The mud. Workers described an acrid smell of "rotting bodies, ... wood smoke and decaying vegetables". To the horror of these workers, who were scrambling to begin relief efforts, survivors let out moans of pain and agony. The damages were assessed at one billion dollars, an amount approximately one-fifth of Colombia's 1985 gross national product . As news of the catastrophe spread around
5336-523: The municipality of Cajamarca in the west of the department. These two cities would become an important part of the Eje Cafetero ("Coffee Axis"). In 1985 the Armero tragedy occurred in the department. It caused the eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano, destroying the town of Armero. It produced lahars and 23,000 people died in the tragedy. Being situated close to the equator, the department of Tolima does not experience seasons, but it does enjoy
5428-535: The natural dam above Armero, resulting in floods. Despite Rodriguez' persistence, only one congressman managed to inquire about the reality of the situation. Reports from the Colombian Minister of Mines , the Minister of Defense , and Minister of Public Works "all asserted that the government was aware of the risk from the volcano and was acting to protect the population". The lack of responsibility for
5520-543: The new constitution of 1853 introduced federalism, which lead to the consolidation of provinces into states. By 1858 this process was complete, with a resulting eight federal states: Panamá was formed in 1855, Antioquia in 1856, Santander in May 1857, and Bolívar, Boyacá, Cauca, Cundinamarca and Magdalena were formed in June 1858. 1861 saw the creation of the final federal state of Tolima. The Colombian Constitution of 1886 converted
5612-406: The new magma had finished ascending into Ruiz's volcanic edifice. An Italian volcanological mission analyzed gas samples from fumaroles along the Arenas crater floor and found them to be a mixture of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide , indicating a direct release of magma into the surface environment. Publishing a report for government officials on October 22, 1985, the scientists determined that
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#17327764517595704-403: The night as "quiet". Volcanic ash had been falling throughout the day, but residents were informed it was nothing to worry about. Later in the afternoon, ash began falling again after a long period of quiet. Local radio stations reported that residents should remain calm and ignore the material. One survivor reported going to the fire department to be informed that the ash was "nothing". During
5796-410: The night, the electrical power suddenly turned off and the radios went silent. Just before 11:30 p.m., a huge stream of water swept through Armero; it was powerful enough to flip cars and pick up people. A loud roar could be heard from the mountain, but the residents were panicked over what they believed to be a flood. At 11:30 p.m., the first lahar hit, followed shortly by the others. One of
5888-508: The one with the most potential for danger is that of small-volume eruptions, which can destabilize glaciers and trigger lahars. Although much of the volcano's glacier mass has retreated , a significant volume of ice still sits atop Ruiz and other volcanoes in the Ruiz–Tolima massif. Melting just ten percent of the ice would produce lahars with a volume of up to 200 × 10 ^ m (7.1 × 10 ^ cu ft) – similar to
5980-698: The present period (beginning 11,000 years ago), it has erupted at least twelve times, producing ashfalls , pyroclastic flows , and lahars. The historically recorded eruptions have primarily involved a central vent eruption (in the caldera ) followed by an explosive eruption, then the formation of lahars. Ruiz's earliest identified Holocene eruption was in about 6660 BC, and further eruptions occurred around 1245, 850, 200 BC, and in about 350, 675, in 1350, 1541 (perhaps), 1570, 1595, 1623, 1805, 1826, 1828 (perhaps), 1829, 1831, 1833 (perhaps), 1845, 1916, December 1984 through March 1985, 1987 through July 1991, and possibly in April 1994. Many of these eruptions involved
6072-470: The present-day municipalities. By 1853 the number of provinces had increased to thirty-six, namely:Antioquia, Azuero, Barbacoas, Bogotá, Buenaventura, Cartagena, Casanare, Cauca, Chiriquí, Chocó, Córdova, Cundinamarca, García Rovira, Mariquita, Medellín, Mompós, Neiva, Ocaña, Pamplona, Panamá, Pasto, Popayán, Riohacha, Sabanilla, Santa Marta, Santander, Socorro, Soto, Tequendama, Tunja, Tundama, Túquerres, Valle de Upar, Veraguas, Vélez and Zipaquirá. However,
6164-416: The progress made by Christmas of 1985 was considerable, but that there was "still a long way to go". A lack of preparation for the disaster contributed to the high death toll. Armero had been built on an alluvial fan that had been overrun by historic mudflows; authorities had ignored a hazard-zone map that showed the potential damage to the town from lahars. Residents stayed inside their dwellings to avoid
6256-434: The regional Red Cross over the intended evacuation efforts at Armero, Mariquita, and Honda . The Ibagué Red Cross contacted Armero's officials and ordered an evacuation, which was not carried out because of electrical problems caused by a storm. The storm's heavy rain and constant thunder may have overpowered the noise of the volcano, and with no systematic warning efforts, the residents of Armero were completely unaware of
6348-478: The relief workers, their job was over. The eruption was used as an example for psychiatric recuperation after natural disasters by Robert Desjarlais and Leon Eisenberg in their work World Mental Health: Problems and Priorities in Low-Income Countries . The authors were concerned that only initial treatment for the survivors' psychological trauma was conducted. One study showed that the victims of
6440-478: The rescue and assistance of survivors. Ecuador supplied a mobile hospital, and Iceland's Red Cross sent $ 4,650 ($ 13,200 today). The French government sent their own medical supplies with 1,300 tents. Japan sent $ 1.25 million ($ 3.54 million today), along with eight doctors, nurses, and engineers, plus $ 50,000 ($ 141,600 today) to the United Nations for relief efforts. Another $ 50,000 ($ 141,600 today)
6532-596: The rescuers arrived. Because Armero's hospital was destroyed in the eruption, helicopters moved survivors to nearby hospitals. Six local towns set up makeshift emergency relief clinics, consisting of treatment areas and shelters for the homeless. To help with the treatment, physicians and rescue teams came from all over the country. Of the 1,244 patients spread over the clinics, 150 died from infection or associated complications . Had antibiotics been readily available and all of their lacerations been thoroughly cleaned, many of these people could have been saved. One week after
6624-476: The risk of lahars was unusually high. To prepare for the eruption, the report gave several simple preparedness techniques to local authorities. Another team gave the local officials seismographs , but no instructions on how to operate them. Volcanic activity increased again in November 1985 as magma neared the surface. Increasing quantities of gases rich in sulfur dioxide and elemental sulfur began to appear in
6716-454: The river of the same name. This is the largest fresh water lake in central Colombia and is also an important tourist attraction. The Saldaña river is central to farming in the area; it has en area of influence of 9,800 square kilometers; equal to 41.5% of the departamental area, the longest reach in Tolima, and has the best flow to its irrigation district. It feeds into the crops in the cities of Saldaña and Purificación, as well as its tributaries;
6808-449: The sheer number of victims. The remaining victims were directed to Ibagué's hospitals, as local institutions had already been destroyed or were at risk from further lahars. The US government spent over $ 1 million in aid (equivalent to $ 2.8 million today), and U.S. Ambassador Charles A. Gillespie, Jr. donated an initial $ 25,000 to Colombian disaster assistance institutions ($ 71,000 today). The Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance of
6900-427: The state of Washington, no other volcano in the Western Hemisphere is being watched so elaborately" as Nevado del Ruiz. Communities living near the volcano have become wary of volcanic activity: when it erupted in 1989, more than 2,300 people living around it were evacuated. Armero , located 48 km (30 mi) from the Nevado del Ruiz volcano and 169 km (105 mi) from Colombia's capital of Bogotá ,
6992-491: The town was previously destroyed by a volcanic eruption in 1595 and by mudflows in 1845. In the 1595 eruption, three distinct Plinian eruptions produced lahars that claimed the lives of 636 people. During the 1845 event, 1,000 people were killed by earthquake-generated mudflows near the Magdalena River . Ruiz has undergone three distinct eruptive periods, the first beginning 1.8 million years ago. During
7084-644: The tragic nature of the Armero disaster – she could have been saved had the government responded promptly and addressed the concerns over the volcano's potency. The photograph earned the World Press Photo of the Year for "capturing the event of greatest journalistic importance". Two photographers from the Miami Herald won a Pulitzer Prize for photographing the effects of the lahar. Stanley Williams of Louisiana State University said that following
7176-425: The two-million-year eruptive history of the Ruiz–Tolima massif includes numerous large eruptions, indicating that the threat of a large eruption cannot be ignored. A large eruption would have more widespread effects, including the potential closure of Bogotá's airport due to ashfall. As the Armero tragedy was exacerbated by the lack of early warnings, unwise land use, and the unpreparedness of nearby communities,
7268-438: The variation, whereas other services, rights and taxes, construction and farming rest, forestry and 3.6 percentage points fish were the branches with greater positive contribution to the variation of the GDP when contributing. Music is the distinguishing cultural expression of Tolima. Its capital, Ibagué, is well known as "the musical city of Colombia", and is home to one of the nation's classic conservatoriums. The department also
7360-500: The vicinity were prepared but poorly distributed. On the day of the eruption, several evacuation attempts were made, but a severe storm restricted communications. Many victims stayed in their houses as they had been instructed, believing that the eruption had ended. The noise from the storm may have prevented many from hearing the sounds of the eruption until it was too late. Nevado del Ruiz has erupted several times since 1985, and continues to threaten up to 500,000 people living along
7452-518: The volcano's flanks. They ran down the volcano's sides at an average speed of 60 km/h (40 mph), dislodging rock and destroying vegetation. After descending thousands of meters down the side of the volcano, the lahars followed the six river valleys leading from the volcano, where they grew to almost four times their original volume. In the Gualí River, a lahar reached a maximum width of 50 m (160 ft). Survivors in Armero described
7544-463: The volcano's threat led to controversy. The mayor of Armero, Ramon Rodriguez, and other local officials had tried to bring the volcano's potential eruption to the attention of the Colombian government, but to no avail. For months, Rodriguez appealed to various officials, including congressmen and the governor of Tolima, Eduardo Alzate Garcia. Rodriguez once referred to the volcano as a "time bomb" and told reporters that he believed an eruption would disrupt
7636-418: The volcano. The water content of the fumaroles' gases decreased, and water springs in the vicinity of Ruiz became enriched with magnesium , calcium , and potassium , which leached from the magma. The thermodynamic equilibration temperatures, corresponding to the chemical composition of the discharged gases, ranged from 200 to 600 °C (400 to 1,100 °F); this is a measure of the temperature at which
7728-608: The water as warm. Another lahar, which descended through the valley of the Chinchiná River, killed about 1,800 people and destroyed 400 homes in Chinchiná. In total, more than 23,000 people were killed, approximately 5,000 were injured, and 5,000 homes throughout thirteen villages were destroyed. Some 230,000 people were affected, 27,000 acres (11,000 ha) were disrupted, and there were nearly 20,000 survivor-refugees. The Armero tragedy, as
7820-464: The world, the ongoing Colombian presidential campaign was halted, and the guerrilla fighters stopped their campaign "in view of the painful tragedy that has befallen our nation". Tickets for Colombian national championship soccer games added a surcharge of five cents to go to relief efforts. Scientists who later analyzed the seismograph data noticed that several long-period earthquakes (which begin strongly and then slowly die out) had occurred in
7912-499: Was difficult for many to accept the danger presented by the volcano; locals even called it the "Sleeping Lion". Hazard maps showing that Armero would be completely flooded after an eruption were distributed more than a month before the eruption, but the Colombian Congress criticized the scientific and civil defense agencies for scaremongering. The eruption occurred at the height of guerrilla warfare in Bogotá, and so
8004-586: Was donated by the Lions Clubs International Foundation . Rescue efforts were hindered by the soft mud that was up to 4.6 m (15 ft) deep in some places, making it virtually impossible for anyone to traverse it without sinking in. To make the situation worse, the highway connected to Armero and several bridges to it had been demolished by the lahars. It took twelve hours for the first survivors to be rescued, so those with serious but treatable injuries probably died before
8096-472: Was first established in 1819, The Republic of Gran Colombia had three departments. Venezuela , Cundinamarca (now Colombia) and Quito (now Ecuador). In 1824, the Distrito del Centro (which became Colombia) was divided into five departments and further divided into seventeen provinces. One department, Isthmus Department , consisting of two provinces, later became the sovereign country of Panama . With
8188-494: Was overtaken by the lahar. At 9:09 p.m., on November 13, 1985, Nevado del Ruiz ejected dacitic tephra more than 30 km (20 mi) into the atmosphere. The total mass of the erupted material (including magma) was 35 million metric tons, only three percent of the amount that erupted from Mount St. Helens in 1980. The eruption reached 3 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index . The mass of
8280-467: Was promptly alerted to the situation. He contacted INGEOMINAS, which ruled that the area should be evacuated; he was then told to contact the civil defense directors in Bogotá and Tolima. Between 5:00–7:00 p.m., the ash stopped falling, and local officials, including the town priest, instructed people to "stay calm" and go inside. Around 5:00 p.m. an emergency committee meeting was called, and when it ended at 7:00 p.m., several members contacted
8372-548: Was the third largest town in Tolima Department , after the towns of Ibagué and Espinal . A prominent farming town before the eruption, it was responsible for roughly one-fifth of Colombia's rice production and for a large share of the cotton, sorghum , and coffee crops. Much of this prosperity can be attributed to Nevado del Ruiz, as the fertile volcanic soil stimulates agricultural growth. Built on top of an alluvial fan that had been host to historic lahars ,
8464-425: Was unclear how big the map's hazard zones really were. The lahars on the map did not have a distinct ending point, and the main threat seemed to be from pyroclastic flows, not from mudflows. Though the map was colored blue, green, red, and yellow, there was no key to indicate what each color represented, and Armero was located in the green zone, wrongly interpreted to indicate the safest area. Another map published by
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