BJ Deming

May 14 (1534 UTC)

  • Status: Orange, but —

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    They don’t usually make such tweets daily. See May 1st 5:04 p.m. update below.

  • Interactive official hazard map (autotranslated), via Relief Web; En español
  • Links to webcams, public data, and other information.
  • Update archive.

Update, May 14, 8:34 a.m., Pacific: It is still at ORANGE. An ash advisory is currently in effect:

Dr. Makario Londoño was interviewed yesterday. I wish I understood spoken Spanish better, but the main thing, of course, is that this reaches people who are in harm’s way. Here it is:

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

It’s difficult to see much through the webcams this cloudy day, but Jhon/VIDJCB did the best he could. I’ll embed the video, though he has started using ads, which might show in some browsers.

As always, he reads the SGC bulletin, and here it is via Google Translate, with emphasis by either SGC or me (also, I embedded a tweet showing that ash column on May 12th, and one from TROPOMI showing a somewhat elevated SO2 output yesterday):

From 9:00 a.m. From yesterday (May 13) until the time of publication of this bulletin, the seismic activity related to the movement of fluids inside the volcanic conduits continued to predominate. This seismicity presented a slight increase in the number of earthquakes and in the seismic energy released compared to the previous day. Some of these signals have been related to pulsatile and continuous ash emissions, confirmed through the web cameras used for volcanic monitoring.

In parallel, seismic activity associated with rock fracturing inside the volcanic edifice was recorded, which showed similar levels in the number of earthquakes and seismic energy compared to the previous day (May 13). The earthquakes were located to the northeast and southwest of the Arenas crater, at a distance of approximately 7 km from it, and at depths between 3 and 5 km.

In relation to surface activity, a continuous outflow of ash was observed from 03:00 a.m. from May 11 until today at 06:57 a.m., with a maximum height of 1000 m measured from the top of the volcano —

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

— and with a dispersion direction between the north-northwest and north-northeast of the volcano for yesterday. On the other hand, variations continue in the degassing of sulfur dioxide and the release of water vapor from the crater into the atmosphere.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

The signal was much more intense on May 12.

All these indicators ratify what the SGC has reiterated: the activity of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano continues to be highly unstable. It is possible that the levels of seismic activity, as well as the levels of degassing or ash output, decrease or be oscillating, in the sense of increasing on some days and decreasing on others. However, this does not imply that the volcano has returned to its normal levels of activity, so it is recommended not to get used to these oscillating changes in activity and think that it is a normal activity of the volcano.

Therefore, we reiterate that the activity of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano continues at ORANGE LEVEL, which indicates that there is a probability that in days or weeks it will erupt more than it has in the last 10 years. To change the level and return to the Yellow level, a prudential time is required where trends and patterns can be observed that allow us to infer the possible decrease in activity, aspects that the current activity of the volcano still does not show. For this reason, we warn that the level of activity of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano will remain at ORANGE LEVEL for several weeks. During this time, in the event of an acceleration of processes suggesting an imminent eruption or the eruption itself occurring, the activity level will be changed to Red.

We recommend that the community remain calm, follow all the instructions of the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD) and local authorities, and be attentive to the information provided by the Colombian Geological Service on the evolution of the state of the volcano.

The level of activity of the volcano remains at ORANGE LEVEL of activity or (II): PROBABLE ERUPTION IN TERMS OF DAYS OR WEEKS.

The COLOMBIAN GEOLOGICAL SERVICE will continue to monitor the evolution of the volcanic phenomenon and will inform opportunely about the changes that may occur.

For more information visit the following link:
https://www2.sgc.gov.co/Noticias/boletinesDocumentos/Forms/AllItems.aspx

Featured image: Ric Photography/Shutterstock

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