Nevado Del Ruiz Case Study

Nevado del Ruiz Case Study

The Eruption and its Impacts

What happened? On November 13th, 1985, the Nevado del Ruiz volcano erupted triggering destructive lahars, which caused approximately 23 000 human deaths, 4500 were injured and, following the catastrophe, 8000 became homeless [3]. Signs of seismic activity can be traced back to July of the same year, where seismograph on the mountain showed uncharacteristically seismic activity levels [1]. Later, in September 1985, not only had the level of seismic activity increased in the region, but steam explosions accompanied them [1]. In November, seismic activity was observed near the summit of the volcano [1]. On November 13, 1985, Nevado del Ruiz erupted twice, a few hours apart [1]. The first

Without communication between scientists, Columbian officials and the public, the consequences’ enormity was unavoidable. Had scientists and the government managed to share information regarding the possible eruption and made the population aware of the chance of it happening, the damages would have had a significant prospect of being lesser. All human lives had the possibility to be saved if they had decided against keeping the information to the authorities and scientists [5]. What could have been done a long time prior November 13’s eruption, was to educate the population on volcanic eruptions’ dangers and precursors. The need for education could have been justified by lahars had happened 40 years prior to the eruption and the eruption that happened 140 years ago [1]. With a limited education on the subject, civilians could have had the resources to make an educated decision on whether they should have evacuated following the suggestion given by Columbian authorities. But, realistically, education would have been unlikely to educate the population since, being a lower income country, they most likely have a minimal part of their already small budget allocated to