Terra Fluxus
Earth in motion
The Nevado del Ruiz is a glacier-capped volcano that stands at 5270m at around 200km west of Colombian capital, Bogotá, between adjacent political departments, Caldas and Tolima. It is one of a chain of volcanos that runs along a cordillera formed by the subduction of the oceanic Nazca plate beneath the continental plate of South America. Written records beginning in the sixteenth century document four eruptive episodes prior to 1985 (1595, 1828-29, 1832-3, and 1845). At least ten major eruptions are thought to have occurred over the past ten millennia.
Once again, in November 1984, the Nevado del Ruiz volcano slowly awoke from 140 years of rest. For a year, it spurted gas and ash, and caused minor earthquakes in its immediate surroundings. The mountain's rumblings attracted the attention of engineers from a local power station, the Central Hidro-Electrica de Caldas (CHEC) who, in turn, contacted Colombia’s national geological survey, the Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Geológico-Mineras (INGEOMINAS). Along with the United Nations Disaster Relief Co-Ordinator (UNDRO) and other foreign agencies, CHEC and INGEOMINAS produced hazard maps and drafted evacuation plans. Their efforts to calculate and convey the risks of an imminent eruption were met with bureaucratic obstacles and indifference in the capital.
On the afternoon of November 13th, 1985, the volcano erupted twice. The lahars that descended through the volcanic valleys accumulated mud, stone, trees, shrubs, and ice. They were engorged by waters from a glacial reservoir that had formed behind a natural dam created in recent earthquakes. Amassing 350 million cubic meters, the debris flow travelled some 45km at speeds of 100km an hour to engulf the town of Armero shortly before midnight. It took the lives of some 25,000 residents.
Today, the town sits in ruins and attracts hundreds of visitors each year, although survivors have lamented the state’s disinterest in preserving the site as a place of tangible national heritage. There exist dozens of memoirs and commemorations of the Armero tragedy, as the disaster has come to be known. In the past three decades, Armero has become the subject matter of major feature-length films, documentaries, radio productions, autobiographies, works of fiction, journalistic chronicles and artistic installations.
This large number of disaster narratives is due, in part, to the warning signs that were ignored by the state, in part to the enormous number of lives that the eruption claimed, and, in part, to its occurrence less than a week after the siege of the Colombian Palace of Justice. On November 6th, 1985, the armed group M-19 took a group of hostages in the Palace, which was subsequently bombarded by the military. The official count of fatalities is 95, although this does not account for nine canteen workers who were reported to be in the courts at the time of the attack, and whose remains have not been located.
The remains of some buildings still stand in Armero. They are covered in thick foliage and dense vegetation, nourished by rich volcanic soils. This flora, in turn, is home to thousands of birds and insects. This abundance of life is counterbalanced by reminders of death. For survivors, these ruins represent the state’s failure to adequately...
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The Parque Temático Omaira Sánchez was inaugurated in nearby town Armero Guayabal by former president Juan Manuel Santos in 2015. It opened formally to visitors in 2018. The Park features a learning centre, where visitors can read information and watch videos about the Nevado del Ruiz volcano, and listen to memories and testimonies of survivors....
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The Nevado del Ruiz is one of over a dozen active volcanoes in Colombian territory. Since its reactivation in 1984, it has attracted increasing attention from scientists and risk analysts. In Colombia, it created a new generation of geologists who specialized in disaster prevention, and fostered an industry of risk mitigation. One such professional who...
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Scattered around the Armero site, there are gravestones and memorials. Some families of the deceased have attempted to locate the places where their homes once stood. Others have erected monuments at the site where they last saw their loved ones, or where they are known to have perished. As well as commemorating the dead, these...
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Aged 13, Omaira Sánchez captured the world’s attention as she became the face of the Armero tragedy. Over the course of three days, rescue crews tried, but eventually failed, to release her from trapped debris. She died on November 16th, 1985. Her remains were never located. In the final hours of her life, she was...
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I visited Armero on a sunny weekday in March 2017, accompanied by two friends and their dog, Sacha. We were taken to the site by a taxi driver from Armero Guayabal, a town some 10km north of Armero where many survivors eventually settled. At the entrance to the site, we were greeted by young men...
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On the first anniversary of the disaster, Pope John Paul II visited Armero to consecrate the site. It was the last stop on his 1986 tour of Latin America. Kneeling at the cross erected to mark the place where the Church once stood, the Pope prayed for the souls of the dead. This image has...
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This bolder sits where a police station once stood. Weighing 200 tonnes, it originated from the heights of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano. Propelled by the lahars caused by the eruption, it travelled some 45km at speeds of 100km an hour. In the years after the eruption, it has become a landmark for disaster tourists...
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