← Back to the front page

Unusual Historic Crises and Calamities

Khalid Elhassan April 16, 2020 34 min

20. An Easily Avoidable Disaster That Wasn’t

Nevado del Ruiz hazard map. Colombian Institute of Geology and Mines

The Nevado del Ruiz Eruption killed about 25,000 people. That made it the 20^th century’s second deadliest volcanic eruption, exceeded only by that of Mount Pelee. Sadly, the massive casualties could have easily been avoided: volcanologists had detected clear signs of an impending eruption two months before it happened, and warned the authorities of the impending disaster.

The location of Nevado del Ruiz by a river valley made the risk of lahars obvious. That, coupled with the glaciers atop the volcano which would supercharge such lahars in case of an eruption, made the dangers to Armero and its surroundings even clearer. Volcanologists and seismologists from multiple organizations warned the Colombian government to evacuate Armero, but were ignored.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.