Nevado del Ruiz

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Nevado del Ruiz is a volcano in Colombia.

On November 13, 1985, Nevado del Ruiz erupted. Pyroclastic flows melted ice and snow at the summit. This melt formed lahars that rushed down several river valleys. The lahars were up to 50 meters thick and travelled more than 100 kilometres.

Many houses and towns were devastated by the lahars. The town of Armero, Colombia was completely covered by debris. Approximately 21,000 people (out of 28,700) died in Armero. The eruption caused an estimated 25,000 deaths, 5,000 injuries, and destroyed more than 5,000 homes. This was the second-deadliest volcanic disaster in the 20th century (the 1902 eruption of Mount Pelée was the worst).

Survivors who fled to other towns in the area were gradually housed in new government schemes, but problems for the displaced population occurred for many years after.

Even in the mid 1990s the town was covered with up to 20 feet of ash and debris. Local villagers harvested stones for building work and often, still, found human bones that they placed on the shrines that dot the area. A few small trees were trying to grow, protected from wandering animals by makeshift fences.

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