BJ Deming

Nevado del Ruiz: June 9, 1815 UTC

  • Status: Orange, but —

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    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.
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  • Update archive.

Update, June 9, 11:15 a.m., Pacific: The summit is hardly visible, but Jhon/VIDJCB collected what he could for today’s video.

Just as an aside, back twenty years or so ago, when first reading about the 1985 Armero tragedy, I remember not understanding all the reports that the mountain was obscured by clouds — it seemed almost absent, yet it controlled events.

Now I can see where that sense of a “hidden mountain” came from. The clouds make observation challenging, even for ordinary satellites.

Anyway, here’s the video followed by the Google Translate English translation of the SGC bulletin that Jhon/VIDJCB is reading (emphasis by SGC):

https://youtu.be/RO9JVgNm0p8&rel=0

Manizales, June 9, 2023 11:00 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. yesterday (June 8) until the time of publication of this bulletin, the activity seismic, in general, continues to show low levels. Seismicity related to fracturing of rock inside the volcanic edifice increased slightly in the number of earthquakes and decreased in seismic energy released, compared to the day before (June 7). The earthquakes located mainly in the northeastern sector of the volcano, at a distance between 2 and 4 km from the Arenas crater with depths ranged between 4 and 5 km. The maximum magnitudes registered were 1.1 and 1.2 corresponding to the seismic events on June 8 at 23:42 p.m. and today at 12:05 a.m., respectively. These earthquakes were located between 2 and 3 km to the northeast from the Arenas crater, at an approximate depth of 4 km from the top of the volcano. Some very low energy earthquakes were recorded in the crater and depths less than 1 km.

The seismicity associated with the movement of fluids inside the volcanic conduits maintained similar levels in the number of earthquakes and showed a slight increase in seismic energy, in relation to June 7. Some of the seismic signals were associated with pulsatile ash emissions confirmed through the web cameras used for volcanic monitoring.

Regarding surface activity, due to the high cloudiness in the area it was not possible to carry out the complete observation of the column of gases, ash and steam, which reached an approximate height of 1000 m. According to the wind forecasts, the column continued presenting a direction preferential to the west-northwest of the volcano. Due to weather conditions mentioned, in recent days there have been no reports of thermal anomalies at the bottom of the crater. On the other hand, the variations in the degassing of sulfur dioxide and the output of water vapor and ash from the crater to the atmosphere continue.

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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