Authorities in Colombia suggested on Saturday that settlements near a rumbling, renowned volcano be evacuated in preparation for an eruption.
The Disaster Risk Management Office said it was preparing to evacuate villages within 15 kilometers (nine miles) of the main crater of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano in Colombia’s Andes.
Seismic activity has surged at the volcano, which erupted in 1985, killing 25,000 people.
That explosion was Colombia’s worst natural disaster and one of the deadliest volcanic eruptions of the twentieth century.
The mining ministry recently reported a “significant increase in seismic activity,” while Colombia’s SGC geological department warned of a “probable eruption within days or weeks.”
The 5,300-meter (17,400-foot) colossus in western Colombia is one of numerous volcanoes that make up the Ring of Fire, an arc around the Pacific basin marked by active volcanoes and frequent earthquakes.
It erupted on November 13, 1985, and produced so much heat that it melted the snow that capped the peak.
This caused a cascading wall of mud to swallow the town of Armero, killing half of its 50,000 residents.
