Armero tragedy

Armero, the aftermath.

Aftermath, mudslides covering the town of Armero

The Armero Tragedy (Spanish: Tragedia de Armero) was the aftermath of the November 13, 1985 Nevado del Ruiz Volcano eruption in Tolima, Colombia. The eruption of lava melted the mountain's large ice cap and produced floods, mudslides and a series of lahars that ultimately covered the town of Armero and killed most of its population, over 20,000 people out of 29,000 inhabitants.^[1] Armero was the third largest town in the Tolima Department after the Department capital, Ibagué and the city of Espinal. The volcano had been dormant for almost 150 years before 1985.

Geologists and other experts had warned authorities and media outlets about the danger over the weeks and days leading up to the eruption. When interviewed by reporters, a number of different officials told the inhabitants that the city was safe and downplayed the possible effects, possibly due to the cynicism created by previous false evacuation orders. The night before the explosion, the mayor of Armero himself assured citizens that there was nothing to fear.

1985 Destruction

On the night of November 13, 1985 Nevado del Ruiz erupted, spewing volcanic ash and causing lahars 60 meters thick. Only one quarter of the population of Armero survived the lahar. The city was buried in ash and mud, and remains buried to this day, much like the city of Pompeii. Footage and photos of Omayra Sánchez, a young victim of the tragedy, were published around the world.

The explosion of the volcano was not the main cause of the disappearance of Armero. The Lagunilla river had been blocked for more than 2 months, when considerably smaller eruptions of the Arenas volcano had melted part of the Ruiz mountain. As a result, the Lagunilla ended up looking more like a lake than a river.

The Nevado del Ruiz Volcano eruption swept away Armero.

The night the volcano erupted, a fluidized mass of rock fragments and gases fell into the Lagunilla river, creating a megatsunami of mud, ash and water. It is estimated that the wave was traveling at 300 miles per hour as it hit Armero. Traveling through the narrow Lagunilla river, it gained speed and power as it hit the plains of the city of Armero. It took less than 15 minutes from the time of the eruption, to the time when the city was gone.

Gigantic rocks embedded in the bottom of the Lagunilla river were moved from their prehistoric positions and started travelling along with the wave, helping to destroy everything in its path. After the first few hours, a lesser secondary wave caused further damage. The next morning, the pilot of a plane transmitting to Colombia's Civil Defense system, overflying what was supposed to be Armero, is known to have remarked: "Dios mio, Armero ha sido borrado del mapa" ("Oh my God, Armero has been erased from the map").

Relief efforts

The eruption occurred at the same time as the 1985 Mexico City earthquake, so the amount of supplies sent was slightly lowered. The US government spent over one million dollars to help and US Ambassador to Colombia Charles S. Gillespie Jr. donated an initial 25,000 dollars to Colombian disaster assistance institutions. The Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance of the US Agency for International Development (AID) additionally sent one member of the United States Geological Survey (USGS), along with an AID disaster-relief expert and 12 helicopters with support and medical personnel from Panama. The US then sent other aircraft, in addition to more supplies, including 500 tents, 2,250 blankets, and several tent repair kits. Twenty-four other nations contributed to the rescue and assistance of survivors. Ecuador supplied a mobile hospital, while Iceland's Red Cross sent 4,650 dollars. French government sent their own medical supplies with 1,300 tents. Japan sent a total of 1.25 million dollars along with eight doctors, nurses, and engineers to the site, plus 50,000 dollars to the United Nations for relief efforts.^[2]

Aftermath

A map showing all of the major disaster zones affected by the eruption

The eruption cost Colombia 7.7 billion dollars, which was about 20% of the country’s GNP for that year. A lack of preparation for the disaster contributed to the high death toll. Armero had been built on old mudflows; authorities had ignored a hazard-zone map that showed the potential damage to the town if lahar were to avalanche down the mountain. Habitants also stayed inside their dwellings and avoided the falling ash, not thinking that the mudflows would bury them, as officials from the area told them to.^[3]

The disaster gained major 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.^[4] Two photographers from the Miami Herald also won a Pulitzer Prize for photography of the effects of the lahar.^[5] Dr. Stanley Williams of Louisiana University said that following 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."^[6] In response to the eruption, the USGS Volcano Crisis Assistance Team was formed in 1986,^[7] and the Volcano Disaster Assistance Program.^[8] The volcano erupted several more times through 1985–1994.^[9]

See also

• The tragedy at Armero bears resemblances to what happened to Pompeii and Herculaneum in the AD 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius. However, in that eruption, the towns were covered with volcanic ash and pyroclastic surges, not by a Lahar, as Armero.

Notes

External links

• Information about Armero
• Video about emergency response to the tragedy (15 minutes), Pan American Health Organization

Coordinates: 5°02′N 74°53′W / 5.033°N 74.883°W / 5.033; -74.883