Nevado del Ruiz: why could you change your alert from orange to red?

Until Saturday, April 8, at the Nevado del Ruiz volcano 800 events were recorded, activity that was associated with several pulsatile and continuous ash emissions.

(Read: Prosecutor’s Office calls authorities to attend alert in Ruiz).

Said activity was confirmed “through the web cameras used for volcanic monitoring and by reports of inhabitants in the sectors of the village of La Cabaña (Murillo, Tolima)“, explained the Colombian Geological Service (SGC).

“The maximum height of the column of gases and/or ash observed was 1,500 meters, measured from the top of the volcano with a dispersion direction that oscillated between southeast and northeast,” added the SGC.

The SGC reported, on the afternoon of this Saturday, that the Nevado del Ruiz continues on orange alert, “but it is within the probabilities that it will change to red.”

In case this happens, the SGC details that “its eruption is imminent or that it is already underway”.

“From the SGC we carefully monitor the activity of this volcano. Thanks to the equipment installed there, we could confirm its eruption, even if weather conditions prevented us from seeing it.“, explains the SGC.

(Also: This is how they live the alert in Murillo, the closest town to Ruiz).

The Geological Service experts explain that “between the first reports indicating an eruption and the confirmation of the event, between 10 and 15 minutes could pass, especially if the conditions are very adverse.”

Natalia Pardo, Director of Geosciences at the University of Los Andes, explain what would be happening at the volcano for the alert to change to red.

“The number of earthquakes continues to be high. There are also significant thermal anomalies,” Pardo details.

He explains that the continuous seismic activity is due to two processes: “As the magma (natural multiphase mixture) rises, it cracks the rock that it crosses, since within it, the gases are moving: they form bubbles, they connect, grow or merge.” escape. All of this generates a kind of ‘sound.'”

“Then: the magma has internal movement and disturbs the rock that surrounds it. It turns red if it becomes too frequent, of greater magnitudes and less depth”, details the director.

(Keep reading: Petro ordered the evacuation of 2,500 families from the Nevado del Ruiz area).

He further says: “sIf it erupts, it means that this magma -which is mainly molten- turns into gas, explodes and breaks what is left of the molten material and the rock that surrounds it“.

He explains this process through an example: “Coca-Cola stops being black and becomes the foam that comes out if it is shaken. In that analogy, seismicity and temperature account for what magma is ‘stirring up’.

CAMILO ANDRES PEÑA CASTAÑEDA
ENVIRONMENT – WEATHER