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.
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
The lahar from the 1985 eruption of Nevado del Ruiz that wiped out the town of Armero in Colombia
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
Lahar
…lahars include those at Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines and Nevado del Ruiz in Colombia, the latter of which killed more than 20,000 people in the Armero tragedy. The word lahar is of Javanese origin. Berend George Escher introduced it as a geological term in 1922…
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
Only a few buildings and structures remained standing after the mud and debris flows ravaged the town of Armero