BJ Deming

Nevado del Ruiz: June 8, 1648 UTC

  • Status: Orange, but —

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

    The take-away here: Ruiz might wind up steadily, if that’s on its agenda, or it might just give them a few minutes’ notice before the “big one.”

  • Interactive official hazard map (autotranslated), via Relief Web; En español
  • USAID April 4th map (autotranslated) posted on May 18 at Relief Web.
  • Links to webcams, public data, and other information.
  • Update archive.

Update, June 8, 9:48 a.m., Pacific: Well, there is a VAAC ash advisory up (and another one issued overnight) —

The advisory text notes that this is based on an activity notice from the volcanologists (a VONA). The weather clouds hide Ruiz’s summit from satellites and, thus far, the volcano’s ash emissions haven’t been strong enough to pierce the clouds.

Within the hour, SGC has issued and pinned a new tweet, repeating in very simple language the message they state daily in their bulletins about not letting down our guard, while using the image of a radio — which many rural residents around Ruiz can relate to.

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

It’s great public outreach and also a reminder for the rest of us that tens of thousands of lives are at stake, on those steep slopes and in those deep ravines, and a major eruption could happen here with little warning.

Ruiz doesn’t look very nevado at present in this cloudy shot from the Cerro Guali webcam:

Here is the SGC’s current bulletin, via Google Translate, with emphasis per the original:

Manizales, June 08, 2023 10:10 a.m.

From the monitoring of the activity of the NEVADO DEL RUIZ VOLCANO, the MINISTRY OF MINES AND ENERGY through the COLOMBIAN GEOLOGICAL SERVICE (SGC) informs that:

From 9:00 a.m. from yesterday (June 7) until the time of publication of this bulletin, the seismic activity related to rock fracturing inside the volcanic edifice showed levels similar in the number of earthquakes and increased in the seismic energy released, compared to the day before (June 6). The earthquakes, in general, were of low energy and are still localized mainly in the northeastern sector of the volcano, at a distance between 2 and 4 km from the crater Arenas. Depths ranged from 3 to 5 km. The maximum magnitude recorded was 1.6, corresponding to the 10:59 p.m. earthquake, located 4 km northeast of the Arenas crater, at a depth of 5 km, approximately, with respect to the top of the volcano.

At the same time, the seismicity associated with the movement of fluids inside the volcanic conduits decreased in the number of earthquakes and showed similar levels of seismic energy, with relation to June 6. Some of the seismic signals were associated with pulsatile emissions of ash confirmed through the web cameras used for volcanic monitoring.

On the other hand, the variations in the degassing of sulfur dioxide and the output of water vapor, steam, and ash from the crater into the atmosphere persist. The maximum observed height of the gas column and steam was 300 m measured from the top of the volcano and the preferential direction of dispersion continue to the northwest of the volcanic edifice.

The activity of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano continues to be very unstable. Although it has been several days in which the seismic activity, in general, has decreased with respect to previous weeks, it is important to remember that 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 behavior of the volcano.

Satellite detection of significant thermal anomalies at the bottom of the crater indicates the presence of very hot material near the surface. It is very important to note that the recurrence of ash output, sometimes pulsatile and sometimes more continuous, the persistence of a slight deformation of the terrain, as well as variations in the output of sulfur dioxide, indicate that the volcano could still make a major eruption in days or weeks. As we have mentioned, on previous occasions, after presenting important changes in its activity, the Nevado del Ruiz volcano has shown a decrease in its activity before an important eruption. That is, first it registers a strong increase in its activity, then a considerable decrease and, subsequently, makes a major eruption.

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 there will be a larger eruption than the volcano has done in the last 10 years. To change levels and return to Yellow level requires a prudential time where trends and patterns can be observed that allow inferring the possible decrease in activity, aspects that the current activity of the volcano still does not show, reason for which warns that the level of activity of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano will remain at LEVEL ORANGE for several weeks. During this time, in the event of an acceleration of processes that suggest an imminent eruption or the eruption itself, the level of activity will be changed to Red.

We recommend that the community remain calm, follow all the instructions of the Unit National 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 COLOMBIAN GEOLOGICAL SERVICE will continue to monitor the evolution of the volcanic phenomenon and will inform in a timely manner 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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