Armero tragedy
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The Armero tragedy occurred following the eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz stratovolcano in Tolima, Colombia, on November 13, 1985. The volcano's eruption after 69 years of dormancy caught nearby towns
Nevado del Ruiz seen from space. The summit ice cap and glaciers surround the dark Arenas crater.
The summit of Nevado del Ruiz in late November 1985
Armero was located in the center of this photograph, taken in late November 1985
Only a few buildings and structures remained standing after the mud and debris flows ravaged the town of Armero
Lahar
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A lahar is a violent type of mudflow or debris flow composed of a slurry of pyroclastic material, rocky debris and water. The material flows down from a volcano, typically along a river valley.
Armero tragedy
…volcanic activity two months earlier. As pyroclastic flows erupted from the volcano's crater, they melted the mountain's glaciers, sending four enormous lahars (volcanically induced mudflows, landslides, and debris flows) down the slopes at 50 km/h (30 mph). The lahars picked up speed in gullies and engulfed…
A lahar travels down a river valley in Guatemala near the Santa María volcano, 1989
Excavated 9th century Sambisari Hindu temple near Yogyakarta in Java, Indonesia. The temple was buried 6.5 metres under the lahar volcanic debris accumulated from centuries of Mount Merapi eruptions.
The aftermath of a lahar from the 1982 eruption of Galunggung, Indonesia